Kirklees Council’s flimsy arguments enter public domain

Yesterday, for the first time since Paul Holmes was suspended from his job at Kirklees Council in November 2019, some of the detail of the Council’s case has formally come into the public domain. The circumstances? Based on the extremely flimsy evidence that the Council presented in the disciplinary, Paul and his legal team had sought an “Interim Relief” order at the Employment Tribunal, which is a court order that would oblige Kirklees to pay Paul until the full Employment Tribunal. Significantly the Interim Relief order was sought on the grounds that there was a prima facie case of overt Anti Trade Union Discrimination.

The evidence presented in the Council’s case is very weak. Paul’s UNISON appointed lawyers presented a document that addressed each of the points in the Council’s dismissal letter and portrayed a clear picture of Trade Union Victimisation. However, an Interim Relief application is not as straightforward as an Employment Tribunal hearing, where the decision is made on the basis of the “Balance of Probabilities”. In an Interim Relief application the applicant has to demonstrate that it is “Pretty Likely” that there is clear “overt” evidence of Anti Trade Union Discrimination.  In this case Paul was unable to reach the threshold of proof. This is because the threshold is much higher.

However, the Judge explained that it would only be possible to ascertain the truth of the matter at the substantive Employment Tribunal hearing. That means that there is everything to fight for. In the first instance Paul will have an opportunity to appeal against the Kirklees decision at an internal appeal hearing. If that appeal is unsuccessful then the next step will be to take the case to the Employment Tribunal.

It is most likely that the content of the Interim Relief application will soon become more widely known, now that it is within the public arena. UNISON activists and Trade Unionists across the movement will then be able to see for themselves the nature of the allegations that were made against Paul and the character of the witch hunt against him launched by Kirklees. We will continue to update our supporters as more information becomes available.