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The Basildon Academies v Amadi
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held in this case that there is no implied term in an employment contract that an employee should disclose their own misconduct.
Mr Amadi was a Cover Supervisor at the Academies. He breached his contract by not getting his employer's permission to work at Richmond upon Thames College, where he was accused of sexually assaulting a pupil and suspended. After police involvement, no criminal action was taken against him. The Academies heard about the police investigation and ultimately dismissed Mr Amadi for not reporting to it the allegation made at Richmond, and for working elsewhere without permission.
The unfair dismissal claim succeeded. The Academies appealed, arguing that there was an implied duty on an employee to report allegations of misconduct, as well as an express duty in his contract to do the same. The EAT analysed Mr Amadi’s contract and the Academies' policies, finding no express duty on him to report allegations against him, except for ones he knew or had reason to believe to be true. He could not therefore have been fairly dismissed for conduct on account of breaching his contract or the Academies' policies.
The EAT also held that there was no implied term that 'an employee must disclose to his employer, in the absence of an express contractual term requiring him to do so, an allegation however ill-founded of impropriety against him'.
In Practice
Employment Associate Paul Burton says, "Many employers will be surprised and disappointed by this decision. We advise that, if you wish to avoid this sort of situation, you should have an express clause in your contracts of employment that states an employee is under a duty to disclose any alleged misconduct, not just that which they believe to be true." It should be noted that the EAT and employment tribunal did not have in the evidence before them the National Standards that applied to the Mr Amadi's employment which would have covered this.
At Frettens, all of our solicitors offer a free initial meeting or chat on the phone to answer your questions. If this article raises issues for you or your business, please call us on 01202 499255 and Kate or Paul will be happy to discuss it with you.
