Mr Philip Murphy v Private and Industrial Services Limited — 2021

Mr Philip Murphy was dismissed by Private and Industrial Services Limited on 18 January 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19 on 7 January 2021. The respondent said the dismissal was for conduct, namely a serious breach of health and safety policies and procedures and gross misconduct. The Tribunal accepted that the reason for dismissal was conduct within section 98(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The Tribunal held that the dismissal was unfair because the respondent did not carry out a reasonable investigation, did not have reasonable grounds for its belief, and did not follow a fair procedure. It found that the claimant was not asked for his account of the allegations before the dismissal decision, that the respondent did not resolve inconsistencies in the accounts of Sarah Murray and Philip Buxton, and that the claimant was not invited to the disciplinary meeting on 18 January 2021. The Tribunal also noted that the termination letter did not refer to a right of appeal, and that the later correspondence did not amount to a proper appeal process.

On the factual issue, the Tribunal considered the claimant's evidence that he had taken a PCR test at a walk-in testing station, had no symptoms, and had not been told to isolate before the result came back. It rejected the respondent's case that the mere fact of taking a PCR test meant the claimant must have had symptoms and should have isolated. The Tribunal concluded that the respondent did not have reasonable grounds for treating the claimant's conduct as gross misconduct and that dismissal was outside the range of reasonable responses. The claim for unfair dismissal therefore succeeded.