Mrs J Forrest v Elysium Healthcare Ltd — 2021

The claimant, a registered nurse working nights at the respondent's hospital, was dismissed after allegations that she had fallen asleep while undertaking level 3 observations of a vulnerable patient. The tribunal found that the respondent dismissed her for misconduct, a potentially fair reason, and genuinely believed she had been asleep during observations.

The tribunal found procedural unfairness because the respondent did not interview a relevant colleague about the key period and did not give the claimant an opportunity to review the enhanced CCTV footage relied on at the disciplinary hearing. Given the seriousness of the allegation and its possible effect on the claimant's nursing career, those omissions affected the fairness of the dismissal.

The tribunal also found, on the balance of probabilities, that the claimant had fallen asleep intermittently while undertaking observations. It concluded that dismissal for that conduct was within the range of reasonable responses, that the procedural failings would have made no difference to the outcome, and that it was just and equitable to reduce both the basic and compensatory awards by 100%.