Kubilius v Kent Foods Ltd ET/3201960/2020
In this case, an employment tribunal held that an employee was fairly dismissed after he refused to wear a face mask when visiting a client site.
The employee in question was a driver who had been transporting products to Tate & Lyle (one of his employer's major clients). He was repeatedly asked by a Tate & Lyle manager to put a mask on but he refused to do so while he was in the cab of his vehicle. His reasoning was simple – he wasn't under an obligation to do so. Given this stance, Tate & Lyle banned him from their site and he was subsequently summarily dismissed by his employer for gross misconduct.
The employment tribunal held that the employer's decision to dismiss fell within the range of reasonable responses, given the practical difficulties caused by the site ban and the lack of remorse shown by the employee. The employee's dismissal was therefore held to be fair.
While this is only a first instance tribunal decision (and therefore not binding on other tribunals), it's clearly a topical case and is indicative of the circumstances in which employers may be justified in dismissing employees during Covid times, in this case as a result of a failure to follow health and safety requirements mandated by a client. As ever, such decisions are likely to be highly fact sensitive and should be dealt with on a case by case basis with appropriate consideration as to whether or not it is reasonable to dismiss.
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