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Law Cases
Labour Law Cases
Industrial action Cases

Simmons v Hoover [1977] ICR 61

Country:
United Kingdom
By Oxbridge Law Team
Philips J

  • Plaintiff went on a strike and Defendant (employer) took that to be a repudiatory breach of contract.

  • The EAT accepted that to go on strike was to deliberately breach one’s contract, so that the employer would be able to sack Plaintiff at common law (by accepting the breach of contract).

    • NB this doesn’t mean that Plaintiff couldn’t sue Defendant for unfair dismissal under statute.

  • EAT rejected the possibility that the contract had merely been suspended during the strike. 

Philips J

When a strike takes place the employer (although he rarely does so) is entitled to dismiss the employee. We are all agreed on this.

A number of problems may then ensue concerning such matters as the right to redundancy payments, and compensation for unfair dismissal. To some extent these matters have already been regulated, by [statutes].

  • The refusal to turn up for work was a fundamental breach of the contract and had a repudiatory nature. 

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