1. Advise Michael to whether Richard is likely to succeed in any legal claim of unfair dismissal against the company and as to the nature of any remedies he may receive.

This case is primary based on several aspects, included in the Employment Rights Act. According to the text, we have a summary dismissal based on gross misconduct in the form of gross disobedience and insolence.
First of all, a case of dismissal is when the employer terminates an employee’s contract. The expiry of a fixed term contract is also considered as a dismissal. In contradistinction from this, a resignation is more likely to be considered as something different. Resignation is normally examined to be termination by the employee, not the employer, therefore when an employee resigns, no dismissal has taken into place.
According to our case, we have something more that ordinary dismissal, namely summary dismissal. Summary dismissal always occurs when the contract is terminated instantly, without any try of notice. “Summary dismissal” or “Instant dismissal” is the dismissal of an employee on the spot and without notice. To be more precise, we can conclude that, summary dismissal could terminate the contract of an employee even with notice, in some cases. Another way is by notification. This could happen by giving notice which includes, or is accompanied by a statement in writing that the employer would, by reason of the employee’s conduct, be entitled to terminate the contract without notice. (Employment Rights Act, 1996) Normally, an employee will be entitled to the notice period provided by the contract that he or she was signed or to the relevant statutory notice period if greater.
Notably when an employee has conducted himself or herself in a very bad way, that it could be categorized as “gross misconduct”. The dismissal, provoked by gross misconduct could be either justified or not.