Mr D Lewis v Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited — 2022

The claimant was dismissed without notice on 11 May 2021 after a dispute about whether his move to night bakery work had become a permanent contractual arrangement. The tribunal found the respondent had decided the bakery no longer needed night baking, and that asking the claimant to work temporarily in the grocery department on the same hours and pay while the contractual dispute was considered was a reasonable management request.

The tribunal found the reason for dismissal was conduct, specifically the claimant's refusal to move to grocery and refusal to leave the store when asked on 28 March 2021. It rejected the claimant's case that there was a plan or conspiracy to dismiss him. The tribunal found the respondent had a genuine belief in misconduct on reasonable grounds, had carried out a reasonable investigation in the circumstances, acted procedurally fairly, and that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses.

The notice pay claim failed because the tribunal found the claimant's conduct was sufficiently serious to amount to gross misconduct. The bonus claim also failed because the bonus scheme was discretionary and permitted withholding in the circumstances found. The wage claim succeeded only in relation to the night shift premium during suspension: although the premium was not basic pay, the tribunal found suspension should be neutral and the claimant should have received his usual pay including the night premium. The claims for 10 May 2021 pay and holiday pay were dismissed. Because the claimant succeeded on part of the wages claim and had not been given written notice of changes to working hours and days, the tribunal ordered four weeks' additional pay under section 38, with the sums to be determined at a remedy hearing.