One-off serious mistakes at work: five key cases

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A mistake by a private security company during a training exercise led to a fake bomb being left in a toilet at Old Trafford, resulting in the evacuation of 75,000 fans at Manchester United's final league game of the season. Estimates put the cost of rearranging the game at £3 million. What is the legal position for employers when an employee makes a single serious mistake at work? While the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures requires employers to give employees a series of warnings before they dismiss an employee for poor performance, it is well established from case law that it may be lawful to dismiss an employee for a one-off act if it constitutes a very serious mistake. Stephen Simpson rounds up five examples from case law in which employees have been dismissed for one-off mistakes at work.  

1. Catastrophic mistake endangering lives can lead to fair dismissal

The leading case has long been the 1977 Court of Appeal decision in Taylor v Alidair Ltd. In that case, the Court of Appeal he