Mr S Dolcey v Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Limited — 2019

The Claimant was dismissed summarily after the Respondent concluded that his colleague discount card had been used fraudulently with multiple Nectar cards. The Tribunal accepted that the Respondent dismissed him for a conduct-related reason and that the dismissing manager genuinely believed the discount card had been misused and that dismissal was appropriate.

The Tribunal found the investigation was not reasonable in the circumstances. The Nectar card records gave rise to suspicion, but they did not prove who used or benefited from the discount card. The Claimant said his wife had been present for the transactions, and the Respondent had access to further payment information and had identified CCTV review as an action, but did not obtain that evidence. The Tribunal also found that dismissal was outside the range of reasonable sanctions because there was no evidence that the Claimant himself had acted dishonestly or benefited from the disputed transactions.

The Tribunal found the Claimant had been blameworthy in failing to ensure the discount card was used in accordance with the conditions of use, and concluded there had been a low level of misuse by his wife. It therefore reduced both the basic and compensatory awards by 50%. The wrongful dismissal complaint also succeeded because the Tribunal was not satisfied that the Claimant's conduct was sufficiently serious to constitute gross misconduct.