Mr M Kianchehr v Tesco Stores Ltd — 2020

The claimant was employed as a warehouse operative and was a workplace representative for Usdaw. He was dismissed following allegations concerning messages in a closed Facebook Messenger group used by union representatives, sharing emails between colleagues, and his alleged treatment of Mr Blake after the group messages were leaked to management.

The tribunal found that the principal reason for dismissal was the claimant's bullying of Mr Blake, which it held had nothing to do with the activities of Usdaw. It also found that the Facebook group comments relied on by the respondent were not protected by s.152(1)(b), because the group's use had moved beyond union activities and the relevant comments were not part of Usdaw's activities. The sharing of emails broadly concerned a union-related matter, but the disciplinary issue was the breach of confidentiality, not an intrinsic part of Usdaw's activities.

Applying the conduct dismissal test, the tribunal accepted that the respondent genuinely believed the claimant had committed the alleged misconduct, had reasonable grounds for that belief, and had carried out a reasonable investigation. It found that the decision to dismiss was not outside the band of reasonable responses, taking account of the respondent's bullying and harassment policy, the effect on Mr Blake, the claimant's disciplinary record and length of service, and the respondent's approach to bullying. The procedural complaint about disclosure of witness statements did not make the dismissal unfair.