Anderson v Chesterfield High School

Employment – Unfair Dismissal. The employee was the Mayor of Liverpool. Prior to his appointment as Mayor, he was employed by the local authority at Chesterfield High School. He continued to receive salary and pension contributions from the authority, who treated him as an employee, although, for a substantial period, he was not required to provide any services. His employment was then transferred to the respondent, who was concerned that the employment was 'inequitable', as the publicly funded school was receiving no benefit. It terminated the agreement and the employee brought a claim before the employment tribunal (the tribunal) who held that although the dismissal had been for a potentially fair reason, the respondent's dismissal procedure had been deficient and the claim was upheld. However, the tribunal also held that the employee's compensation would be subject to a 100% Polkey deduction. The Employment Appeal Tribunal, dismissing the employee's appeal, held that the tribunal had not erred, and had been correct to deduct 100% of the employee's compensation under the Polkey guidelines.