Ian Smith returns from the summer break to swot up on the latest employment decisions
As the dog days of non-summer are upon us, the cases chosen for this update concern fairly short and precise employment law issues, which are no less interesting for that. They comprise yet another judicial pronouncement from the Court of Appeal on fiduciary duties in employment (or, to be more precise, the usual lack of them), two Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) cases on aspects of constructive dismissal and a decision of the Court of Session affirming the very narrow approach taken by the courts and tribunals to the power to strike out weak cases, where the comment will be made that this whole approach may be out of line with the legislative intentions of successive governments.
Fiduciary duties at work
The decision of the Court of Appeal in Ranson v Customer Systems Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 841 disapproved yet another attempt to expand the law so as to impose general fiduciary duties on to ordinary (albeit senior) employees (as opposed to directors); in doing
