Facts
- Bell & Snelling worked for Lever Bros, but contrary to their employment contracts also traded for personal profit
- After completing their objectives, Bell & Snelling were given large payoffs are were made redundant
Issue
- Could the redundancy contracts be void for common mistake when Lever Bros later found out about the personal trading, which would have allowed employment termination with no payoff?
Decision
Reasoning
- The mistake was not an “essential and integral element of the subject matter of the contract”
- The personal profit made was negligible compared to the profit Bell & Snelling made for Lever Bros