Miss S Charles v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham — 2019

The claimant was dismissed after the respondent found that she had set up and reinstated direct debits using the respondent's Council Tax account to pay her British Gas bills over a period of about two and a half years. The tribunal found that the reason for dismissal was conduct, including the setting up and reinstating of the direct debit and failure to cooperate with the investigation by providing access to relevant evidence.

The tribunal held that the dismissal was unfair because, after an earlier disciplinary hearing had concluded that the original allegation of fraudulent use was not substantiated, the respondent continued the disciplinary process, changed the allegation, and did not make clear to the claimant that the allegation had changed. That was found to be a substantial procedural flaw. However, the tribunal found that, if a fair process had been followed on the alternative charge, the claimant could and would have been fairly dismissed at the same time, and dismissal would have been within the band of reasonable responses.

For compensation, the tribunal made no compensatory award because of a 100% Polkey reduction and a 100% reduction for contributory conduct. It reduced the basic award by 50%, taking into account the serious procedural flaw and the claimant's 26 years of unblemished service. The wrongful dismissal claim was dismissed because the tribunal found a repudiatory breach. The direct race discrimination complaints were not considered on the merits because they were out of time and the tribunal held it had no jurisdiction.