Miss Maria Paul v The Black-E (a private limited company with number 01056472) — 2019

Miss Maria Paul worked for The Black-E from 2009 and was promoted to Deputy Director before taking on Acting Director responsibilities while the Director was absent from October 2017. After a leak was discovered in the building at the end of the pantomime run, the relationship between the claimant and the respondent changed, and the respondent began investigating concerns about the event and the claimant's handling of her responsibilities.

The tribunal found that the respondent was entitled to conclude that there was no signed contract in place for the production and no bespoke risk assessment had been carried out for the event. It also found that the claimant had authorised a number of payments to sessional workers and freelancers, including payments said to be above the agreed rate, and that the respondent had enough detail to put those allegations to her. The tribunal accepted that the Director's report and the later disciplinary process were not perfect, but held that the investigation was reasonable in the context of a very small charity.

The tribunal held that the respondent genuinely believed the claimant had committed misconduct, that belief was based on reasonable grounds, and the investigation was as much as was reasonable in the circumstances. It found that the claimant had been given multiple opportunities to respond, including written invitations, a disciplinary hearing, and an appeal. The disciplinary and appeal panels were found to have acted fairly and without bias, and the dismissal was upheld as a fair dismissal for conduct.

The unlawful deduction of wages claim was withdrawn at the start of the hearing and was not pursued. On compensation, the tribunal said that, had it needed to determine the point, it would have found the claimant contributed to her dismissal by 100% and that it would not have been just and equitable to award any compensation.