Two Industrial Tribunal awards overturned on appeal

The Court of Appeal has overturned two awards delivered by the Industrial Tribunal in two cases filed by Michael Azzopardi and Marvin Abdilla against Engineering for Science and Industry Malta Ltd.

The awards were overturned after the court found the two men had been unfairly dismissed from their jobs.

Last June, the Industrial Tribunal had dismissed the two men's claims that they had been unjustly dismissed by the company. The men then appealed to the Court of Appeal presided over by Mr Justice Raymond C Pace.

On appeal the court heard that the two men had been employed as assistant engineers with the company, which had been entrusted with providing engineering services to Mater Dei Hospital while it was under construction.

The company told the court that the services of the two men were no longer required as the contract for engineering services had come to an end. The two men were, therefore, dismissed from the jobs on the basis of redundancy.

But Mr Azzopardi and Mr Abdilla told the court that other employees who had started working with the company after them had been retained in employment. They added that the company had also employed other persons after their dismissal on a part-time basis.

The two men claimed in their appeal that they had not been given a fair hearing by the tribunal and that the principle of "last in first out" had not been properly applied.

Mr Justice Pace found that the tribunal had failed to properly consider the documentary evidence produced by Mr Azzopardi and Mr Abdilla to show that other employees, engaged after them, had been retained by the company.

Thus, the tribunal had also failed to properly apply the principle of "last in first out"

The Court of Appeal therefore revoked the decisions delivered by the tribunal and the two cases were remitted to the tribunal for an award of damages to be established.