Unfair Dismissal (or not)?

[edc]

TheAngryDog said:

edc said:

You have though touched on another less often discussed aspect of persuing a claim. If your father-in law is unhappy imagine the mother-in-law. Do they need the extra stress and emotional and time investment in progressing a claim? Assuming it goes to Tribunal how is the 67 year old mother in law going to do in several months time sitting in front of a panel being grilled in detail by a Barrister whilst representatives of the employing company watch on? Can she do that for several hours or even several days? Does she want to travel somewhere to do that? Will she want to spend a few hours with a solicitor re-counting all of this in minute detail in case prep? I imagine that father-in-law will be in tow to any Tribunal. How will he like it watching on? If it was my mother I'd tell her to pack a bag and go on holiday instead.

Quite right, lets not bother with fighting employers when they get it wrong and dismiss people unfairly, just roll over and have your belly tickled.

You make 67 sound old!

I cant add anything OP, other than to wish your Mother in Law good luck.

I have been on both sides of the fence working for an employer and supporting friends/family with their own claims. It is a nice ideal that we should stand up for wrong-doing but when it comes to the crunch one person may not fancy the crusade. I am not saying whether one should or should not pursue a claim but simply to advise that if they have a claim , they have been wrong'd so they should fight it all the way is not necessarily good advice. All I did was lay out some of the things that will be expected. It is up to the person that is affected to make the decision. However, if people start talking big money in front of them then not only can they have the pressure of dealing with the case itself but potentially other people supposedly encouraging them for the sake of the potential money. My mother also happens to be an ethnic minority and of a similar age. If she ever had a case for discrimination I would ask her whether she seriosuly wanted to pursue it, not just blindly tell her I can support her to get her a cheque at the end. How are we to know whether this mother-in-law is a complete beast and ready for a tear-up or whether she is a timid character and cannot deal with stressful situations?

[TheAngryDog]

I think thats the thing, we dont, but the OP's Mother in Law should know the kind of person she is. I agree that not all battles should be fought, but sometimes you just have to, and in this case, it seems that she is.

[surveyor]

Thought I would update this....

The MiL accepted an offer close to five figures.

It's sad that her working career ended this way, but at least she if free to move on and annoy the FiL all day now....

[edc]

At least she can move on.

Here is the reality check of how long these cases can take and what level of award you may get.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/employment/cla...

http://bwglaw.co.uk/blogs/employment-tribunal/empl...

[anonymous-user]

Pub (and to some extent PH) wisdom asserts that employment tribunals are a big bucks casino for employees, but the reality is that most employees lose their claims, and the average payout for those who win is quite modest. The government has made access to the tribunals difficult by increasing the qualifying period for boggo dismissal claims and by imposing fees that will deter many people on ordinary incomes, especially those who have lost their jobs. The latter are subject to a legal challenge as they may infringe article 6, the due process guarantee of the ECHR.