MR SELLATHURAI AHILANATHAN v Tesco Stores Ltd — 2023

The claimant was dismissed from his Store Manager role after the respondent found misconduct in four areas: not adhering to waste and alphanumeric date code processes, breaches of price integrity routines, opening the store alone on various occasions, and leaving the store without appropriate trained supervision. The claimant had a live final written warning relating to out of code products at the time.

The tribunal accepted that the reason for dismissal was conduct, a potentially fair reason under section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It found that the respondent reasonably and honestly believed the claimant had committed misconduct, and that there were reasonable grounds for that belief. The tribunal rejected the argument that the investigation was deficient because it did not treat the issues as capability matters, finding that the claimant had admitted or the respondent had established the relevant conduct and that the investigator was entitled to refer the matter to a disciplinary officer.

The tribunal found the investigation, disciplinary hearing and appeal process were reasonable and fair. It also found dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses, taking account of the claimant's role, the policy breaches, earlier warnings, and the live final written warning. The tribunal rejected the argument that the handling of possible demotion made the dismissal unfair, finding that demotion was not considered an appropriate sanction by the respondent and that the appeal manager's request that the claimant confirm whether he wished to pursue a lesser role was not unreasonable.