A secret friendship on your disciplinary panel can make your dismissal unfair.
“Unfair and wrongful dismissalA breach of contract claim, usually about not being given the correct notice or notice pay, decided under ordinary contract law rather than employment rights legislation. It is different from unfair d... both upheld; liability only, no remedy award yet decided.”
An undisclosed personal connection between the person deciding your outcome and a witness or complainant can make the process unfair on its own, whatever the underlying allegation was.
- Ask whether anyone on your disciplinary panel has a personal relationship with anyone involved in your case, and put your concern in writing if you are not satisfied with the answer.
- Push your employer to show how your case compares with similar cases it has handled before. Inconsistent treatment is a real weakness in its process.
- Get advice as soon as you are facing a disciplinary hearingA formal meeting at which your employer sets out the allegation against you and gives you the opportunity to respond before any decision is made. You have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or... or have been dismissed, especially if something about the panel does not add up.
The situation
He was an Early Career Teacher who had also taken on Sixth Form pastoral leadership, heavier responsibility than is usual for someone so new to the job. A pupil began seeking him out for emotional support, including during panic attacks. Concerns about the relationship reached the school through a trainee teacher, passing on worries from her cousin, another pupil there. The school opened a disciplinary investigation. The panel found gross misconductBehaviour serious enough that your employer is entitled to dismiss you immediately without notice. Common examples include theft, violence, or serious dishonesty, but what counts depends on your emplo... and dismissed him without notice.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal ruled the dismissal both unfair and wrongful. Under section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996The primary piece of legislation setting out employees rights in the UK, including the right not to be unfairly dismissed, the right to a written statement of employment particulars, and rights relati..., a dismissal has to fall within the range of responses a reasonable employer could reach. This dismissal fell well outside that range. The investigating officer had corresponded with the local authority in terms that suggested gross misconduct had already been assumed before the investigation was finished, and never interviewed the mother of the pupil at the centre of the case. The chair of the disciplinary panel had an undisclosed personal friendship with the mother of the pupil who first raised the concern, and admitted she avoided that parent so she would not hear information outside the hearing. The tribunal held that this gave, at the very least, the appearance of bias. The panel also never checked how the case compared with other disciplinary decisions the school had handled, despite its own policy requiring it, because no system existed for panels to do so. The tribunal also found no evidence that the teacher's conduct had actually harmed the pupil.
Roberts v St Bartholomew's School, case number 3311626/2024, Watford Employment Tribunal, decided 11 June 2026.