Employment

It was settled law that it was legitimate for an employer to rely on a final warning provided that it was issued in good faith, that there were at least prima facie grounds for imposing it, and that it had not been manifestly inappropriate to have issued it. The guiding principle in determining whether a dismissal was fair or unfair in cases where there had been a prior final warning did not originate in authorities, which were but instances of the application of s 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to particular sets of facts. The broad test laid down by s 98(4) of the Act was whether, in the particular case, it was reasonable for the employer to treat the conduct reason, taken together with the circumstances of the final written warning, as sufficient to dismiss the employee. In answering that question, it was not the function of the tribunal to re-open the final warning and rule on an issue raised by