Mr F Gallagher v British Telecommunications plc — 2019

The claimant was dismissed after the respondent reviewed whether it could continue to employ him following an earlier disciplinary process in which he had received a final written warning. The claimant accepted that he had used the respondent's Blarney system to access customer location information, including information relating to his former partner and others, and argued that dismissal after the warning amounted to double jeopardy.

The tribunal found that the original conduct was fairly and reasonably categorised by the respondent as gross misconduct, and that the claimant had accepted he could have been dismissed at the end of the original disciplinary process. It accepted the respondent's evidence that senior managers were concerned about the effect of the claimant's actions on trust and confidence and on the respondent's reputation, including the involvement of the Information Commissioner's Office.

The tribunal held that the respondent had genuinely and on reasonable grounds lost confidence in the claimant as its employee and that this amounted to some other substantial reason for dismissal. It rejected the claimant's double jeopardy argument, finding that the final written warning did not prevent the respondent from further investigating whether it could retain sufficient trust and confidence in him.