Professor Geoffrey Beattie, former in-house Big Brother psychologist, was dismissed from his post as Professor of Psychology at the University of Manchester in November 2012. David Sillitoe from the Leeds Employment Department was appointed to represent him in his claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal.
The case was heard in June 2014 and judgment was sent to the parties this week, with Professor Beattie’s claim being successful.
Read more about the case in this story from Manchester Evening News from June 2013
The allegations for which the Big Brother psychologist was dismissed related to media work and an apparent failure to obtain the necessary formal approval for this, as well as the level to which he used his research assistants to assist in this media work. Professor Beattie always denied wrongdoing.
The tribunal found that the university’s procedure had been flawed and, in the circumstances, dismissing Professor Beattie was an unreasonable response to the conduct, which should not have been classed as ‘gross misconduct’. A Remedy Hearing will be listed in due course.
