Mrs Maureen Blankson v Engie Services Limited — 2019

The tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed for serious misconduct rather than capability. It accepted the respondent's evidence that, as a manager, the claimant assisted two staff members who were removing a large quantity of client promotional stock from the site and failed to report the matter when asked to help search for the missing items. The tribunal concluded that misconduct was the genuine reason for dismissal.

On fairness, the tribunal held that the respondent had a genuine belief in the claimant's misconduct based on reasonable grounds and a reasonable investigation, including CCTV review and witness interviews. It found that the disciplinary and appeal processes were fair and that summary dismissal was within the band of reasonable responses, so the unfair dismissal claim failed. Because the tribunal found gross misconduct, the wrongful dismissal claim for notice pay also failed.

On holiday pay, the tribunal construed clause 8 of the contract as providing for monthly accrual and held that the claimant had accrued holiday entitlement through January and February 2019, awarding £463.49. The respondent's counterclaim for overpayment was dismissed because the alleged overpayment arose after termination and therefore fell outside the tribunal's jurisdiction under the Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994.