ASLEF appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal which overturned the earlier decision, finding that a union could expel a member on the ground of his or her conduct, and referred the case to a second Employment Tribunal. However, the second tribunal upheld Lee's complaint, saying that his expulsion had been "primarily because of his membership of the BNP". ASLEF was therefore forced to re-admit Lee as a member, in breach of its own rules. Failure to re-admit would have meant paying compensation of at least €8,600. Even though it re-admitted Lee, ASLEF remained exposed to a claim for compensation of up to €94,200. ASLEF lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR, in Strasbourg) on 24 March 2005. The complaint relied on Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association), which states,