A war correspondent’s employment tribunal victory could have wide-ranging implications for client and adviser, and may lead to similar claims

Richard Gizbert worked as a reporter for ABC News Intercontinental. In the early part of his career his work as a war correspondent took him to many dangerous places but, as time went on and his family grew, he began to turn down assignments to war zones. When ABC reorganised its London bureau, Mr Gizbert was one of the reporters who lost his job. Gizbert claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed on health and safety grounds, while ABC insisted that he had been fairly dismissed for redundancy. The employment tribunal agreed with Mr Gizbert and we are currently waiting for a remedies hearing to decide on the compensation to be awarded to him, which is likely to be substantial.