On October 12, the Court of Appeal issued its judgement in the case of Perkin v St George's Healthcare NHS Trust.

Mr Perkin was employed by the trust as director of finance, a responsible job that required him both to manage a group of employees underneath him and to co-operate with senior colleagues.

He was dismissed in 2002 after the trust concluded that, although there was no criticism of technical competence or integrity, his personality and management style had caused such problems that continued employment was impossible.

The trust's view was that Mr Perkin was a difficult and sometimes intimidating employee to deal with. He had a "won't do" rather than a "can do" attitude. Additionally, he questioned the integrity of his immediate superior and that of the finance director of another trust.

Mr Perkin brought an unfair dismissal claim in the tribunal.

Although he eventually won (because it was held that the officer who dismissed him was biased), the case is important as it reminded employers that they do have the right to dismiss an employee who, while his performance is technically satisfactory, has a difficult personality.

However, as the trust found to its cost in this case, having a good reason to dismiss does not mean that one can dispense with established procedures and rules of fairness for dealing with dismissals.

Because the disciplinary panel was found to have been biased against Mr Perkin, the dismissal was held to be unfair, even though it was for a good cause.

What saved the trust's day, however, was the court's conclusion that, even if the panel had not been biased, then it would still have dismissed Mr Perkin because it was clear that a working relationship with senior colleagues was no longer possible.

On that basis, the tribunal concluded that it would be neither just nor equitable to award Mr Perkin any compensation.

- Stephen Elliott is a solicitor in the employment team of North-East law firm Ward Hadaway. He can be contacted on 0191-204 4000 or by email at stephen.elliott@wardhadaway.com

Published: 01/11/2005