Mr Asim Rahat v Active Remedial Solutions Limited — 2019

Mr Asim Rahat, employed as Footwear Design Manager from 1 September 2014, was summarily dismissed on 3 May 2018 after allegations about stock ordering, deletion of emails, and secret commission. At the hearing the respondent conceded the unlawful deduction claim for £515, and the tribunal also accepted that stock concerns alone could not justify summary dismissal for gross misconduct.

The tribunal held that the dismissal was unfair because Mr Derek Moore had already decided on dismissal by 3 April 2018, as shown by emails sent to suppliers saying that Mr Rahat had "left the company" before any disciplinary outcome. It found the investigation and disciplinary process were not a genuine fair-minded enquiry: the key commission and email allegations were not properly put to the claimant, important factual disputes were not investigated, and the process was treated as a rubber stamping exercise. The tribunal rejected the respondent's case that Mr Rahat had taken secret profits or deleted about 21,000 emails, and it found no basis to reduce compensation under s.123(6) ERA 1996.

On the contractual claims, the tribunal awarded £1,127.54 for unpaid expenses after rejecting two disputed items, and £1,277.76 for failure to give notice, calculated as three weeks' net pay at £425.92. It held that the ACAS Code had been breached, but any unfair dismissal remedy was left to a later remedies hearing, and the decision noted that mitigation and any uplift would be dealt with separately.