The Employment Tribunals Act 1996 and the accompanying Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994 allows an employee to bring a breach of contract claim which arises, or is outstanding, on termination of employment, and gives the employer the right to make a counterclaim. In Francis-McGann v West Atlantic UK Ltd, FG was employed as a pilot and agreed to repay his training costs where his service exceeded 6 months. The employer discovered that FG had provided a false reference, purporting to be from Desilijic Tiure, which is actually the alternative name of Jabba the Hut, a character from Star Wars. This amounted to gross misconduct and although the employer could have summarily dismissed FG he was given the opportunity to resign with immediate effect. The ET rejected FG’s breach of contract claim that he was entitled to 3 months’ notice pay, as the employer had ample grounds to summarily dismiss him. The ET then upheld the employer’s counter claim and ordered FG to repay his £4,725 training costs.

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