Mrs S Coombs v Marks and Spencer plc — 2021

The claimant was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct after the respondent concluded that she had intentionally and knowingly removed goods from the store without paying for them. The tribunal recorded that one initial allegation was no longer pursued after it became clear that the claimant had paid for those items, despite earlier statements that the electronic journal showed otherwise.

The remaining allegation concerned a layaway transaction that had not been recalled for payment. The tribunal found that the claimant had admitted failing to complete the layaway and leaving without paying, but had not admitted taking the goods out of the store without paying. The tribunal found that this distinction had not been properly investigated or put to her, and that there was no adequate attempt to check whether the goods remained in the store, had been returned to stock, or whether relevant colleagues or till records could clarify what happened.

The tribunal concluded that the investigation was seriously flawed, including reliance on a misattributed admission and on conclusions from CCTV evidence that had already proved unreliable in relation to the first allegation. It held that the respondent did not have a reasonable belief in dishonest conduct based on reasonable grounds after a reasonable investigation, and that dismissal was outside the range of reasonable responses. The claimant was therefore unfairly dismissed.