Mr A Mundy v Goyt Kitchen Fabrications Limited — 2019

Mr A Mundy was dismissed on 14 March 2018 from his role as an electrician with Goyt Kitchen Fabrications Limited after the respondent suspected theft in connection with a cardboard box and the claimant’s PAT tester. The respondent relied on conduct and gross misconduct. The tribunal applied section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Burchell approach to misconduct dismissals, asking whether the investigation was reasonable, whether the respondent genuinely believed the claimant was guilty, and whether there were reasonable grounds for that belief.

The tribunal found that the respondent did have a genuine belief that the claimant was guilty of misconduct, but the investigation was inadequate. Mr Barraclough was confined to a fixed list of questions, no further witness statements were taken from available colleagues, and no stock check was carried out before the dismissal decision. The tribunal also found that the disciplinary hearing was chaired by William Benn, who had been directly involved in the incident on 27 February 2018 and was not impartial. The tribunal found that he had a closed mind when deciding to dismiss.

The tribunal held that there were no reasonable grounds for concluding that theft had occurred because the respondent had not established that any stock was missing. The claimant’s length of service and previous record were not properly weighed in the dismissal decision. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore well-founded.

On remedy, the tribunal made no Polkey reduction. It applied a 20% uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 for unreasonable failure to follow the ACAS Code of Practice, and a 30% reduction for contributory fault because the claimant drove away during the incident and this contributed to the respondent’s belief and the dismissal. The final awards were a basic award of £6,161.40 and a compensatory award capped at £33,658.04.