Mr R Hepworth v Nrg Ltd — 2025

The Claimant, an HGV tanker driver employed since 2014, was dismissed on 7 November 2024 for gross misconduct following an oil spill. The Tribunal found that the Respondent reasonably believed the Claimant had committed the misconduct in question, but that the investigation and procedure followed were not within the range of reasonable responses. In particular, the Respondent relied on a Standard Operating Procedure that did not exist at the time of the incident and failed to produce the version said to have been in force, and did not adequately put the case or the evidence to the Claimant in advance of the disciplinary hearing.

The Tribunal concluded the dismissal was procedurally unfair and that, on the facts of this employer, a fair procedure would not have resulted in a dismissal falling within the band of reasonable responses, so no Polkey reduction was made. The Tribunal nevertheless found the Claimant had contributed to his dismissal by failing to supervise the offload, and reduced both the basic and compensatory awards by 50% under sections 122(2) and 123(6) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Tribunal also found unreasonable breaches of paragraphs 4, 9 and 12 of the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures, including inconsistent treatment of mitigation as between the Claimant and a comparator driver and failure to give adequate notice of possible consequences or disclose the evidence relied upon. It applied a 15% uplift to the compensatory award under section 207A(2) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Remedy was reserved to a further hearing if not agreed.