The Ceylon Estate Staffs’ Union vs. The Manager, Woodend Estate, Mahaoya Group, Dehiovita and Lalan Rubbers (Pvt) Ltd – SC APPEAL 93/2019-2023

In the case between The Ceylon Estate Staffs’ Union (on behalf of a Field Officer) and the Manager, Woodend Estate, Mahaoya Group, and Lalan Rubbers (Pvt) Ltd., the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether the High Court improperly substituted its own findings for those of the Labour Tribunal concerning the termination of a Field Officer. It was held that the High Court had erred in overriding the factual determinations made by the Tribunal, particularly as such interference is permissible only when the findings are clearly unsupported or perverse. The judgment reaffirmed the principle that appellate interference with a tribunal’s factual findings must be strictly limited to instances of material misdirection or manifest unreasonableness. Reliance was placed on established precedents g