Miss Chinoye Udi v Lifeways Community Care Limited — 2021

The claimant was dismissed for conduct after allegations relating to fire safety, completion of a waking night checklist, and confidentiality. The tribunal found that the dismissing manager genuinely believed the claimant had committed misconduct. It found reasonable grounds, after a reasonable investigation, for the conclusion that the claimant had deliberately left the flat entrance fire doors open, and that dismissal for that allegation alone fell within the range of reasonable responses.

The tribunal found that the respondent had not carried out as much investigation as was reasonable before concluding that the claimant had falsified the waking night checklist, because it had not checked the claimant's explanation about a blank replacement checklist. It also found that the confidentiality allegation was less serious and would not itself justify dismissal as gross misconduct. However, because dismissal for the fire door allegation was within the range of reasonable responses, the unfair dismissal claim failed.

On pay and contract issues, the claimant accepted that she had been overpaid between 1 July and 13 November 2019. The tribunal found that, even if the higher hourly rate claimed during suspension applied, the claimant had still received more than her entitlement. It accepted in broad terms that the overpayment caused losses relating to benefits and national insurance, but held those losses did not flow from an unlawful deduction or recoverable breach of contract. The wage, holiday pay, breach of contract and rest break claims were dismissed.