Getting the sack

If someone is told to leave their job, especially if their employers say they have done something wrong, they are dismissed. More informal ways of talking about a dismissal are to say that the person has been fired or sacked or given the sack.

If someone feels that they have lost their job unfairly, they may take their case to a tribunal and sue or make a claim against their former employers for unfair dismissal.

First I shall he consulting the League Managers' Association and suing the club for unfair dismissal. It will make great listening at an industrial tribunal.

The fact is they haven't been sacked or dismissed. They are still employees.

She was unjustly accused of stealing money and then given the sack.

He is fired from his job because he has been uttering unAmerican thoughts.

Ex.4. Below there are sections from two articles: each article contains three sections. Put the articles together, putting the sections in the right order, and match each article to its headline. (One article begins with section a) and the other with section b).

1) ВТ MAN DROPS SICK DAYS CASE

2) PONYTAIL MAN CLAIMS SEX BIAS

a) A BT enginccr sacked after taking more than 1,100 sick days dropped his claim for unfair dismissal yesterday. BT claimed that Michael Stoneham's complaint had been frivolous and should never have been brought.

b) A ponytailed man who was dismissed from his job for refusing to have his hair cut claimed yesterday that he was the victim of sexual discrimination because women employees were allowed long hair.

c) Mr. Stoneham was ordered to pay ВТ £200 costs. Outside the industrial tribunal hearing in Chelsea, west London, he said: 'They had always wanted to get rid of me. I felt I had a case'.

d) Mr. Lloyd of Wapping, East London, said he refused the request on principle. Clients were interested only in his technical knowledge. 'There was no one who said to me, 'You can solve my computer problem, but first get your hair cut.' He is claiming unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against Computer Associates of Slough, Berkshire.

e) Mr. Stoneham, 43, of Leytonstone, east London, had claimed that his 1,158 sick days over 16 years had been due to a series of mishaps. However, Michael McDonough, his representative, withdrew the case 'in the light of evidence which has been given.

f) Kevin Lloyd, 36, left his job as computer engineer after being ordered to trim his hair, which reached halfway down his back, or to find a new job. Brian Wizard, customer services director, said that his haircut clashed with the company image’.

Ex.5. Below there are sections from two more articles: each article contains three sections. Put the articles together, putting the sections in the right order, and match each article to its headline. (One article begins with section a) and the other with section b)).