08 June 2010 #Employment
It was held in Edwards v Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust that the employee was able to recover damages at large for a breach of a contractual disciplinary procedure.
In this case the employee was dismissed for gross professional and personal misconduct following a disciplinary hearing. The employee claimed that the hearing was conducted in breach of a contractual disciplinary procedure.
The employer sought to argue that the damages should be limited to the employee`s notice period. However, it was held that if the employee`s substantive claim succeeded, the employee would be entitled to recover loss of earnings not only in respect of his notice period but also for the period during which he would have remained employed had the disciplinary procedure been carried out.
In upholding the employee`s case, one of the conclusions held was that, ‘...the employee had a contractual right to have the benefit of the agreed disciplinary procedure before he was dismissed....` (Gunton v Richmond-upon-Thames LBC [1980])