What is the mental element of the mental component of the tort of wrongful dismissal?

The mental element necessary to establish the tort was discussed in Three Rivers District Council v. Bank of England, (No. 3), [2000] 3 All E.R. 1 at p. 44: The official concerned must be shown not to have had an honest belief that he was acting lawfully; this is sometimes referred to as not having acted in good faith… Another way of putting it is that he must be shown either to have known that he was acting unlawfully or to have willfully disregarded the risk that his act was unlawful. This requirement is therefore one which applies to the state of mind of the official concerning the lawfulness of his act and covers both a conscious and a subjectively reckless state of mind, either of which could be described as bad faith or dishonest.