Mr Jaspal Singh v EE Limited — 2024

The claimant was dismissed without notice following an investigation into an incident on 27 August 2021 involving a customer at the respondent's Harlow store. The Tribunal found that the customer was vulnerable, that the claimant was involved in the transaction, instructed colleagues to seek a credit referral for three lines when the customer wanted one, and held up three fingers to the customer during the credit referral call. It accepted the respondent's evidence where there was conflict and found that the claimant's explanations changed during the process.

On disability, the Tribunal found that the claimant had physical impairments of left-sided acute sensory neural hearing loss and, taking his case at its highest, tinnitus, and that those impairments were long-term. However, it found that at the relevant dates they did not have an adverse effect that was more than trivial on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The s.15 discrimination arising from disability and reasonable adjustments complaints therefore failed. The Tribunal also found, in any event, that there was no reduced comprehension caused by the impairments during the incident and no substantial disadvantage in the telephone or Teams welfare meetings.

For unfair dismissal, the Tribunal found that conduct was the sole reason for dismissal, that the respondent had a genuine and reasonable belief in the misconduct after a reasonable investigation, and that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses. It found the procedure reasonable despite delay and despite the claimant not being shown the whole CCTV footage during the internal process. For wrongful dismissal, the Tribunal found the claimant's conduct was a fundamental and wilful breach of contract amounting to gross misconduct, so the respondent was entitled to dismiss without notice.