The function of ETs is to assess the employer’s decision to dismiss and decide if it falls within a range of responses that a reasonable employer could have taken.

It was argued that employers had to prove that the misconduct that led to the dismissal had actually occurred and was not merely suspected.

Tribunals have to decide whether the ­employer entertained a reasonable suspicion amounting to a belief in the guilt of the employee at that time. There are three elements to this: the employer must establish the fact of that belief; the employer must show that there were reasonable grounds upon which to sustain that belief; and at the stage at which the belief was formed the employer must have carried out as much investigation into the matter as was reasonable in the circumstances.

It was argued that employees who are unfairly dismissed can be compensated for non-economic losses.

Compensation for non-economic losses, for example injury to feelings, is not available in these proceedings.

There was a dispute about the effect of the appeal process on the fairness of a dismissal.

A dismissal is unfair if the employer unreasonably treats the reason for dismissal as a sufficient one, either when the original decision to dismiss is made or when that decision is maintained at the conclusion of an internal appeal.