In person For the v Respondent — 2021

Miss E. Najafloo worked for Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Ltd as a Retail Artist from 23 July 2017, and from July 2018 worked at the respondent's counter within Selfridges, Oxford Street. The judgment records that her pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim had already been dismissed at an open preliminary hearing on 23 March 2022 because it was out of time. The final hearing therefore concerned unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction from wages in respect of holiday pay.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that the claimant's contract authorised deduction from final pay for holiday taken in excess of entitlement. It found that she had reduced her hours, was on maternity and parental leave, and took 12 days of annual leave in April 2021. By the end of employment on 26 August 2021, she had taken 32 hours more annual leave than she had accrued. The respondent's deduction of £400 from final pay represented 32 hours at £12.50 per hour, so the deduction was held to be lawful and the unlawful deduction claim failed.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that the claimant was aware of the allegation that she had provided items to her mother without taking payment and that the respondent investigated the incident of 1 August 2021 before holding a disciplinary hearing over two days. It accepted the respondent's evidence that it genuinely believed the claimant was aware of her mother's theft and had given her mother an empty Selfridges bag by placing it in the buggy, contrary to policy, and that this amounted to gross misconduct involving theft or dishonesty and breach of trust and confidence.

The tribunal also found that the procedure was fair overall. The claimant was given the opportunity to attend investigation and disciplinary meetings, to view CCTV, to be accompanied, and to appeal. The appeal officer considered her personal circumstances and the live first written warning relating to misuse of the employee discount policy, but upheld the dismissal. Applying section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Burchell approach, the tribunal held that summary dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses and dismissed the unfair dismissal claim.