«Sally Greatorex» v «Presentation Sisters Care Centre» Heard remotely on CVP — 2022

Sally Greatorex had worked for the Respondent care home for 26 years before resigning on 22 July 2021 after a disciplinary process arising from a colleague’s grievance. The tribunal accepted that some of the Claimant’s conduct towards Mrs Marsden on 28 June 2021 was blameworthy: it found that she lifted Mrs Marsden’s dress, and that she made an ill-judged joke about prostitutes wearing red lipstick. It did not accept that she called Mrs Marsden a prostitute, and it did not accept the separate allegation that she had sworn at another manager in April 2021.

The tribunal held that several alleged express-term breaches were not made out. It found that the Respondent did not have to state that suspension was a neutral act, identify a pastoral support contact, or refrain from telling the Claimant that summary dismissal was a possible sanction. It also found that the disciplinary meeting was identified as such in the letter of 13 July 2021 and that reference to previous disciplinary matters in later correspondence did not breach contract. The central contractual breach was different: the Respondent dispensed with an investigatory meeting even though there was not irrevocable evidence of gross misconduct, contrary to its own procedure.

The tribunal further held that the way the process was run breached the implied term of trust and confidence. Ms Carnall had investigated the complaint, decided in advance that the Claimant had committed gross misconduct, and was also to decide the sanction. No investigation report was produced, the Claimant was not told that she would not be interviewed before a disciplinary decision, and the tribunal found there was no adequate reason for Ms Carnall to combine those roles. It accepted the Claimant resigned in response to those breaches, so there was a dismissal within s.95(1)(c) ERA 1996, and the dismissal was unfair under s.98(4) ERA 1996.

On remedy, the parties agreed a basic award of £7,087. The tribunal awarded £600 for loss of statutory rights and calculated loss of earnings and travel losses up to the hearing, then reduced that subtotal by 20% for contributory conduct to £920.96. It applied a 15% ACAS uplift because the Respondent had unreasonably failed to comply with the Code, found there was no realistic chance the Claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event, and declined to reduce the basic award. The total award was £9,899.15.