Eastwood and another (Appellants) v. Magnox Electric plc (Respondents). McCabe (Respondent) v. Cornwall County Council and others (Appellants), (2004)

Status: [2004] UKHL 35

Linked as:

Extract

Eastwood and another (Appellants) v. Magnox Electric plc (Respondents). McCabe (Respondent) v. Cornwall County Council and others (Appellants), (2004)

HOUSE OF LORDS

SESSION 2003-04

[2004] UKHL 35

on appeal from: [2002] EWCA Civ 463

OPINIONS

OF THE LORDS OF APPEAL

FOR JUDGMENT IN THE CAUSE

Eastwood and another (Appellants)

Magnox Electric plc (Respondents)

McCabe (Respondent)

Cornwall County Council and others (Appellants)

THURSDAY 15 JULY 2004

The Appellate Committee comprised:

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead

Lord Steyn

Lord Hoffmann

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry

Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood

HOUSE OF LORDS

OPINIONS OF THE LORDS OF APPEAL FOR JUDGMENT

IN THE CAUSE

Eastwood and another (Appellants) v. Magnox Electric plc (Respondents)

McCabe (Respondent) v. Cornwall County Council and others (Appellants)

[2004] UKHL 35

LORD NICHOLLS OF BIRKENHEAD

My Lords,

1. In October 1905 Mr Addis was abruptly and ignominiously dismissed as manager of the business of Gramophone Co Ltd in Calcutta. He sued his employer for wrongful dismissal, in proceedings which have cast a long shadow over the common law. Mr Addis was entitled to six months' notice. Your Lordships' House held that his damages were confined to loss of salary and commission for six months. He was not entitled to recover damages in respect of the 'manner of his dismissal' in the phrase of Lord Loreburn LC. The way Mr Addis was sacked may have imported obloquy and permanent loss in the commercial community of Calcutta, but in respect of these matters he had no cause of action: Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488.

2. This was still settled law when the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations, under the chairmanship of Lord Donovan, reported in 1968. Protection at common law against 'wrongful' dismissal was strictly limited. The employer, as much as the employee, was entitled to end the contract of employment without cause. The employer could act unreasonably or capriciously. He was not bound to hear the employee before dismissing him: see the oft-quoted words of Lord Reid in Malloch v Aberdeen Corporation [1971] 1 WLR 1578, 1581. In its report (Cmnd 3623) the Donovan Commission recommended the law should be changed by 'early legislation'. Statute should establish machinery to safeguard employees against unfair dismissal: paragraph 1057.

3. Parliament gave effect to this recommendation in the Industrial Relations Act 1971. The relevant provisions are now contained in Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996. An employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed by his employer: section 94. The remedies for unfair dismissal are set out in Chapter II of Part X. A complaint may be made to an employment tribunal. If the tribunal upholds the complaint the tribu...

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