Ms Margaret O’Connor v HC-One Limited — 2021

The tribunal found that the reason for dismissal was the claimant’s conduct on 20 June 2020. It accepted that the claimant removed a vulnerable resident’s bed from her room and found, on balance, that the primary reason for doing so was to encourage or coerce the resident into eating, rather than because the bed was wet. The tribunal preferred the contemporaneous accounts of four staff members over the claimant’s later allegation that those staff members had lied.

Applying the conduct dismissal test, the tribunal found that the respondent genuinely believed the claimant had committed misconduct, that belief was based on reasonable grounds, and the investigation and disciplinary and appeal procedures were reasonable and fair. It found the respondent was entitled to take the incident seriously given the resident’s distress, shouting, vulnerability and the claimant’s failure to seek assistance.

On sanction, the tribunal held that dismissal for gross misconduct fell within the band of reasonable responses. It found the respondent had considered the claimant’s long service and clean disciplinary record but was entitled to conclude that her actions, lack of insight and the impact on the resident justified dismissal. For the wrongful dismissal claim, the tribunal concluded that the conduct amounted to gross misconduct, so the respondent was entitled to dismiss without notice.