Ms D Zion-Mensah v CT Plus (Yorkshire) Community Interest Company — 2020

Ms D Zion-Mensah was employed as a bus driver from 1 October 2008 until her summary dismissal on 11 May 2018. The complaint arose from a passenger’s written complaint about the 5 April 2018 service, which alleged mobile phone use while driving and other driving errors. The Claimant’s automatic unfair dismissal and victimisation complaints had been withdrawn before the hearing.

The tribunal found that the Respondent carried out a reasonable investigation and disciplinary process. It accepted that Ms Ojudun’s investigation notes, which the Claimant signed, recorded an admission that she had been using her mobile phone while in the driver’s cab with the engine running at the Sainsburys stand. The tribunal rejected the Claimant’s case that she had only used the phone after leaving the bus, and it did not accept that she had been coerced into signing the notes. It also held that the suspension, disciplinary hearing and appeal were conducted fairly and in line with the Respondent’s procedures and the ACAS Code.

Applying Burchell and section 98(4) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that the Respondent had a genuine and reasonable belief in gross misconduct and that dismissal was within the band of reasonable responses. It accepted that the mobile phone prohibition was serious because it concerned both the Respondent’s policy and road safety legislation. The comparator case of Mr C Vergara Piedra was found not to be in truly parallel circumstances because he had been seen handling a phone on CCTV but had not been using it. The unfair dismissal claim and the breach of contract complaint were both dismissed.