Christou and another v London Borough of Haringey was a case brought by social workers involved in the "Baby P" scandal at Haringey council. The social workers were originally given written warnings regarding their conduct following the scandal but a new management team was brought in to review the case and the working practices of the council. The new management team took a different view of the seriousness of the conduct of the social workers and undertook a second disciplinary proceeding against them, which resulted in their dismissal. The social workers challenged the fairness of their dismissal.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal found that the dismissal was fair. The EAT found that, when assessing whether the dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses which a reasonable employer would take, the original tribunal had taken account of the first disciplinary proceedings and the previous warnings given. The EAT found that the original tribunal had acted appropriately in finding that the dismissal was fair. It also held that there was no legal principle which prevented the employer from re-considering a disciplinary decision, although the circumstances in which a disciplinary matter could be re-tried would be confined to very rare circumstances such as this.
Comment: The Baby P scandal led to a great deal of media pressure on the council and ultimately led to the removal of the Head of Children's Services, Sharon Shoesmith, after the first disciplinary proceedings had been taken against Christou. Following the removal of Sharon Shoesmith, a new management team was brought on board to review matters at the council. It is difficult to see any circumstances other than these very limited ones in which a second disciplinary procedure could be justified
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