Mr Damien Jon v The Co-Operative Group Limited Heard — 2022

Mr Damien Jon was employed by The Co-Operative Group Limited as an embalmer and was summarily dismissed on 3 March 2021 after the incident in the temperature controlled unit on 8 January 2021. Before hearing evidence, the tribunal amended the respondent's name by consent and refused the respondent's strike out application. The claim proceeded as an unfair dismissal claim only; the claimant's comments about negligence were treated as context for that claim, not as a separate jurisdictional complaint.

The tribunal found that the reason for dismissal was misconduct. It accepted that the dismissing officer, Ms Heslop, genuinely believed that Mr Jon had assaulted Ms Stanley by pushing her out of the doorway of the TCU, and that Mr Bloomer also genuinely believed misconduct had occurred when he rejected the appeal. That belief was held on reasonable grounds, including the accounts from witnesses in the vicinity who heard shouting and heard Ms Stanley say words to the effect of "Don't touch me", together with the investigation into the conflicting accounts and the claimant's own explanation of his injury.

The tribunal also found that the respondent carried out a reasonable investigation and acted in a procedurally fair manner. Mr Jon was interviewed, suspended pending investigation, given the witness accounts, invited to disciplinary meetings, and offered an appeal. The tribunal rejected the criticism that the respondent should have awaited the police investigation, and it held that the focus properly remained on the incident itself rather than the broader history between Mr Jon and Ms Stanley, although that history was considered background context.

On sanction, the tribunal held that dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses. It noted the respondent's disciplinary policy, under which physical violence was normally gross misconduct and could lead to summary dismissal for a first incident. The tribunal therefore concluded that Mr Jon was not unfairly dismissed within section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and dismissed the claim.