Mr S Sigsworth v Torque Logistics Limited — 2024

The claimant, Mr S Sigsworth, was dismissed by Torque Logistics Limited after an investigation into allegations arising from a 30 June 2023 after-work social event in Leeds. The tribunal accepted that the event was sufficiently connected with employment to fall within the course of employment. It found that the respondent had a potentially fair reason for dismissal, namely conduct, and applied the statutory fairness test under s.98(4) ERA 1996 together with the principles in Burchell.

The tribunal found that the respondent carried out a reasonable investigation. It interviewed all ten attendees shortly after the event, took further clarification statements from AA and Phoebe Ellis, and gave the claimant the witness material and an opportunity to respond at investigation, disciplinary, and appeal stages. John Miller was found to have approached the matter with an open mind and to have genuinely believed that the claimant had committed misconduct. The tribunal accepted that AA and Phoebe Ellis gave broadly consistent accounts, and it treated the claimant’s later disclosure of the CCTV description as relevant to the decision-making process, although the footage itself was not obtained.

The tribunal rejected the claimant’s case that there had been a conspiracy, coercion, or targeting linked to a 2022 grievance. It found no evidence that AA had been coerced into complaining and noted that neither John Miller nor Paul Jackson knew about the 2022 matter when making their decisions. It also found that the respondent had properly considered sanction, including length of service and alternative outcomes, but was entitled to treat the conduct as gross misconduct and summarily dismiss. The appeal was conducted by a manager not involved in the original decision and was rejected because no new evidence was provided. The claim for unfair dismissal was therefore dismissed.