Employment Advice

Employment law – even solicitors get it wrong sometimes!

A recent case in the West Midlands Employment Tribunal shows that employment law can be so complex that even solicitors make mistakes.

11 Jan 2022

Team name
Esther Marshall

Esther Marshall

Fiona Tsang was a solicitor at HRS Family Law Solicitors, working at their Dudley office. In 2020 she was told, on a Friday afternoon, that she was being moved to the Walsall office, where she should report the following Monday morning. This caused Ms Tsang issues with her school run, and she made it clear she wasn’t happy with the move. After the weekend, she returned to work in Walsall.

Tsang was then summarily dismissed for gross misconduct on grounds that she had failed to accept a lawful instruction from her employer, and had fundamentally breached her contract of employment.

The Tribunal found that Ms Tsang had clearly not acted in breach of her contract, and pointed to the fact that she had attended work on the Monday morning, albeit at the Walsall office. There had also, it was found, been a failure to consult. HRS were ordered to pay Ms Tsang the notice to which she would have been entitled had she not been summarily dismissed.

M&P Commentary

Esther Marshall, Senior Associate Solicitor in our Dispute Resolution department, said:

“In common with most employees, Ms Tsang had a clause in her contract of employment which obliged her to work at different locations if reasonably requested to do so by her employer. She herself conceded that her employer had a contractual right to move her. The issue in this case was how her employer went about it. They should have consulted in a meaningful way before the move. In the event that Ms Tsang still refused, then rather than summary dismissal, a proper disciplinary procedure should have been followed.

“The fact that the respondent in this case was a firm of solicitors, is testament to the fact that employment law can be a complex area. At Mullis & Peake our experience team can advise employers how to handle difficult situations with their staff, to try and avoid problems before they arise.”

OUR CLIENTS SAY ABOUT US

Ranked highly in Romford and Brentwood for solicitor firms

Family
The service I received from Allison was exceptional. Always highly professional and informative.
Virginia
Wills
Mullis and Peake are very efficient, professional and friendly company to deal with. Excellent service throughout.
Brian
Employment
Excellent, swift service from Esther at Mullis & Peake. Showed clear expertise in her field & walked me through everything patiently & thoroughly.
Dan
Company and Commercial
I found the service provided was excellent from start to finish, with our requirements met in a timely manner throughout.
Gary
Wills
Staff very helpful and friendly. Trudi was easy to talk to and to understand the procedure.
Pamela
Dispute resolution
We contacted Martyn to deal with a sensitive Will dispute and we can’t thank him enough for his commitment and hard work.
Salena
Residential Property
Very prompt. Experienced. Expert. Friendly.
Trevor
Commercial Property
Excellent service and far quicker than previous negotiations using a different solicitor.
John
Family
At all times I was kept informed about the progress of the case and everything was completed in a timely fashion.
Melanie
Personal Injury
Martyn undertook and guided me through the lengthy process [of a personal injury case], and after much work, achieved a successful result.
Shirley