An employee is required to obey lawful orders under his contract of employment even when that order is given in bad faith.
In 1993 Celtic Football Club engaged a manager under a contract which provided that he must live within 45 miles of the centre of Glasgow. The manager rented a home in Glasgow, though his family lived in Stoke. In practice, he often left Glasgow after the Saturday match and did not return until Wednesday.
In 1994, the club was taken over. The new management treated the manager very differently, such as openly criticising him and not inviting him to board meetings. The management also summoned him to meetings when he was not in Glasgow and ordered him to cancel his holiday. When he refused, he was sacked.
His claim for unfair dismissal failed as he had disobeyed a lawful order. The fact that the order was given in breach of the duty of trust and confidence did not stop its being a lawful order. The condition to live in Glasgow arose from the contract of employment and not from any specific order.
This case does not mean that an employer can get away with issuing lawful orders out of malice. There is a general principle of law that non-compliance with a contractual condition can excuse the other party from performing his part of the contract which is conditional on compliance. This means that a customer does not have to pay for goods which are not supplied, for example. But in a contract of employment, provisions which are conditional on each other are harder to establish. In this case, the employer acted in bad faith for which the employee could have a remedy in damages. He has no basis for disobeying what remained a lawful order.
Macari v Celtic Football and Athletic Co Ltd. Court of Session IRLR 787 [1999]
[1999]