Ms Jessica Coates v South London Heating Limited — 2020

Ms Jessica Coates worked first as a subcontracted gas engineer and then, from 1 June 2019, as an employee of South London Heating Limited on a salary of over £46,000 with a £50 bonus for each boiler sold. Her employment ended on 11 September 2019 after complaints, suspension and a disciplinary process. The tribunal said this was not an unfair dismissal case because the claimant did not have sufficient service; the liability questions were whether the dismissal was a breach of contract for notice pay and whether wages had been unlawfully deducted before dismissal.

On the dismissal issue, the tribunal accepted that there had been a run of customer complaints about short visits, inadequate diagnosis and pressure on customers to replace boilers. It relied on tracker data and Ms Green's evidence to find that Ms Coates usually left before 4pm, and it rejected the suggestion that the complaints were fabricated. It found that the complaints had caused refunds, unbillable time and reputational damage, and it held that the main allegation of serious customer complaints was true. It discounted other allegations about falsifying hours, doing work for JAC during working hours, using JAC tools or a JAC phone, and private use of the vehicle as either not established or not sufficient to amount to gross misconduct.

Applying the range of reasonable responses approach, the tribunal held that dismissal for that conduct was within the range of reasonable responses and therefore was not in breach of contract. By contrast, it held that suspension should have been on full pay. The contract did not authorise withholding pay during suspension, and the tribunal said there was nothing to show that sickness or self-certification displaced that entitlement. It therefore found that wages were unlawfully deducted between 9 and 16 August 2019 and after 30 August 2019 when pay was reduced to statutory sick pay, and it directed the parties to exchange schedules of loss for a later remedy assessment.