HER HONOUR JUDGE EADY QC
Introduction
1. We refer to the parties as the Claimant and the Respondent. This is a unanimous Judgment of this Court.
2. The appeal is that of the Respondent against a Judgment of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Employment Tribunal (“the ET”) (Employment Judge Hargrove sitting alone, on 12 February 2014), sent to the parties on 21 February 2014. By that Judgment, the ET held that the Claimant had been unfairly dismissed but that the basic and compensatory awards should be reduced by 40 per cent for contributory conduct. The Claimant was represented by Mr Collins, Counsel both before the ET and before us. The Respondent was represented by its solicitor, Ms Nicolaou, before the ET but has been represented by Mr Mehrzad, counsel, before us.
3. The appeal raises the issue of misuse of Twitter by an employee in the context of an unfair-dismissal claim. We are told this is possibly the first such case to come before the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Whether or not that is so, u…