Philip Smith, former Chief Executive of Royal Sun Alliance Insurance, was awarded €1.25 million, just under two years’ salary, by the Employment Appeals Tribunal in a constructive unfair dismissal case. RSA has confirmed publically that it intends to appeal the decision.

Key Outcome

This case reinforces the importance for employers to avoid predetermined decisions in an internal process. This is particularly important where it is a stretch for an employer to pin the blame for a particular series of events on one person in particular, when many others within the organisation were aware of the issues involved and did little or in this case, nothing, to prevent them.

In its published decision, the EAT says that “the Respondent went