Kwik-Fit Ltd v Lineham [1992] ICR 183 is a UK labour law case, concerning unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal is the term used in UK labour law to describe an employer's action when terminating an employee's employment contrary to the requirements of the Employment Rights Act 1996...

, now governed by the Employment Rights Act 1996

Employment Rights Act 1996

The Employment Rights Act 1996 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament passed by the Conservative government to codify the existing law on individual rights in UK labour law. Previous statutes, dating from the Contracts of Employment Act 1963, included the Redundancy Payments Act 1965, the...

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Facts

On returning from the pub, an employee Mr Lineham used the toilet after hours at the depot where he worked The employer publicly rebuked him, and gave him a final written warning. Lineham threw down his keys and drove off and phoned the company the day after, asked for his wages and told Mr Kattner, the boss, he was going to tribunal.

Judgment

Wood J held that the employer was not entitled to assume that the phone call was a resignation. He stated that the employer should accept a resignation within a reasonable time, but this was not that.