Mr D Thompson v And Informatica Software Limited Hearing — 2017

Mr Thompson was employed by Informatica Software Limited from 1 November 2013 until his summary dismissal on 24 October 2017. The tribunal found that the dismissal followed his approval of a Pebble Beach Golf Club outing and overnight stay for a Highways England customer representative, with total expenses of £4,241. It also found that the respondent investigated the matter through HR, held a disciplinary hearing on 13 October 2017, and dismissed him after concluding that he had breached its code of conduct, travel and expense policy, and anti-corruption policy; the appeal was later refused.

On the protected-disclosure complaint, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had raised concerns between February 2016 and September 2017 about commission splits on particular deals, but found those concerns related to internal disputes affecting individual salespeople and specific accounts. Applying Chesterton Global Ltd v Nurmohamed, it held there was no reasonable belief that the disclosures were in the public interest, and no reasonable belief that they showed a failure to comply with a legal obligation. It therefore found that none of the alleged disclosures amounted to a protected disclosure and dismissed the automatic unfair dismissal claim under section 103A ERA 1996.

On the ordinary unfair dismissal complaint, the tribunal found the reason for dismissal was misconduct, not any hidden agenda connected to the commission-split disputes. It rejected the claimant's conspiracy case, found no evidence that Mr Barnett was the controlling mind behind the dismissal, and held that the investigation, hearing and appeal met the Burchell requirements and the ACAS Code. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had acknowledged poor judgment and that the employer could reasonably conclude he had wilfully disregarded policy; the dismissal was therefore within the range of reasonable responses.