M&S whistleblower tribunal appeal considered by GMB

The GMB union is considering an appeal after Marks & Spencer (M&S) whistleblower Tony Goode lost his tribunal case for unfair dismissal last week.

Goode, dismissed from his £44,000 a year job as a customer loyalty manager in September 2008, claimed the sacking also breached his human rights – principally free speech. But the Central London Employment Tribunal ruled otherwise.

GMB legal officer Maria Ludkin said the union will consider the possible grounds for appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

“GMB consider that M&S dealt with Tony Goode in an unjust manner and that he was sacked for exercising his right to free speech about cuts in redundancy pay and in his own terms and conditions of employment. Since he was sacked in September 2008, M&S has made over 1,000 people redundant on the reduced terms as Tony Goode predicted that they would.”

Goode had told the media that M&S planned to reduce its redundancy payments for long-servering employees from a maximum of 72 weeks to 52. The cap was later set at 62.

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An M&S spokeswoman said “We’re pleased with the outcome and we were confident in our case throughout the process. We obviously take these matters extremely seriously but we’re glad to now draw a line under this.”

Ludkin said: “This is an extremely disappointing judgement. The fact that the tribunal took so long to consider the case demonstrates the complexities of the issues involved.”