Mr A Mofunanya v Caritas Anchor House — 2020

Mr A Mofunanya worked as a receptionist for Caritas Anchor House from 11 July 2016 until his summary dismissal with effect from 21 October 2019. The dismissal followed an investigation into cash-handling discrepancies at reception, where the respondent identified 18 instances between August 2018 and March 2019 said to total £3,248.83. The tribunal noted that the respondent’s case was that the claimant was responsible for the Z readings on the relevant shifts and that he was present on the dates where the discrepancies arose.

The tribunal accepted that there were procedural flaws in the process. The investigation took nearly six months, suspension correspondence was late, the claimant was not told promptly that the investigator had changed, the invitation to the disciplinary hearing should have said dismissal was a possible outcome, and some interview notes and the disciplinary hearing record were not provided to him. It also noted the absence of a written cash-handling policy and that X readings had not been retained, but held that these matters did not make the process unfair overall.

Applying the conduct dismissal principles in s.98 ERA 1996 and Burchell, the tribunal found that the respondent genuinely believed the claimant had misappropriated funds and had reasonable grounds for that belief after a reasonable investigation. It considered that the claimant’s role in handling cash and producing the Z readings, together with the pattern of discrepancies and his failure to raise issues on the relevant dates, gave the respondent reasonable grounds to conclude that misconduct had occurred. Dismissal was held to be within the range of reasonable responses. The claim for unfair dismissal was therefore dismissed, and the reserved issues of Polkey, contribution and ACAS uplift did not arise.