Kirklees Council

Case Summary

An appeal against an Employment Tribunal decision that dismissed complaints of unfair dismissal and trade union detriment brought by a trade union branch secretary. The claimant was dismissed for conduct (aggressive behaviour and bullying), and claimed the dismissal was automatically unfair because it was motivated by his trade union activities. The EAT upheld the ET's decision, finding no error in law and concluding that the factual reason for dismissal was the conduct allegations, not trade union activities.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that the Employment Tribunal did not err in law in rejecting the unfair dismissal complaint, including the claim for automatic unfair dismissal based on trade union activities. The ET was entitled to conclude that the factual reason for dismissal was the claimant's conduct (bullying, intimidation, and threatening behaviour) as established through a fair disciplinary process with reasonable grounds for the conclusions, rather than his participation in trade union activities.

Use these claim-type pages to compare this decision with other published tribunal cases, outcome patterns, and visible award data.

• •Whether the reason or principal reason for dismissal was the claimant's participation in trade union activities
• •Automatic unfair dismissal for trade union activities under ERA
• •Trade union detriment complaints
• •Procedural fairness of disciplinary process
• •Conduct allegations (bullying and threatening behaviour)
• •Whether allegations were sufficiently particularised
• •Relevance of historical allegations
• •Fairness of investigation process

Judgment approved by the Court for handing down Holmes v Kirklees Council © EAT 2026 Page 1 [2026] EAT 80 Neutral Citation Number: [2026] EAT 80 Case No: EA-2023-001124-AT EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL Rolls Building Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1NL Date: 2 nd June 2026 Before: HIS HONOUR JUDGE JAMES TAYLER Between: MR P HOLMES Appellant - and - KIRKLEES COUNCIL Respondent - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nicholas Toms (instructed by Leigh Day Solicitors) for the Appellant Peter Oldham KC (instructed by Kirklees Council) for the Respondent Hearing date: 3 March 2026 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JUDGMENT Judgment approved by the Court for handing down Holmes v Kirklees Council © EAT 2026 Page 2 [2026] EAT 80 SUMMARY UNFAIR DISMISSAL, TRADE UNION RIGHTS The Employment Tribunal did not err in law in dismissing complaints of unfair dismissal (including automatic unfair dismissal for taking part in the activities of an independent trade union) or dismissing complaints of trade union detriment. Judgment approved by the Court for handing down Holmes v Kirklees Council © EAT 2026 Page 3 [2026] EAT 80 HIS HONOUR JUDGE JAMES TAYLER: The issues 1. The main issue in this appeal is whether the Employment Tribunal erred in law in its analysis of a complaint of unfair dismissal, primarily whethe…