Case law: employer cannot rely on evidence after the ruling to reverse it

An employer cannot rely on evidence gathered after an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has already ruled that a dismissal was unfair.

An employee accused of poaching customers was held to have been unfairly dismissed, as there was insufficient evidence at the hearing. His employer subsequently gathered powerful new evidence in the form of statements from other employees and asked that the dismissal be ruled fair on the basis of this new evidence.

The employer claimed that he did not know he was expected to obtain such evidence at the original hearing. The employer had relied on the advice of an employment law consultancy until shortly before the trial.

The EAT ruled that the new evidence could not make the previous dismissals fair, and the evidence should have been obtained the first time round.

Operative date: Immediate