Ms H Platt, Counsel For the v Respondent — 2021

The claimant, Mr Chris Hillman, brought claims arising out of his dismissal from the Ministry of Defence: unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal in relation to notice pay, and a holiday pay claim. The tribunal found that his conduct around the house move, the lock-up move and the Cyprus accounts amounted to serious misconduct, but not gross misconduct. On that basis, the claimant was entitled to notice and the respondent was ordered to pay the net amount due, although the judgment did not quantify that sum because this was a liability-only hearing.

On the wrongful dismissal issue, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had used MOD vehicles and staff in connection with the move of personal items and that there had also been serious issues in the handling of the Cyprus funds. However, it concluded that the conduct did not reach the threshold for summary dismissal. The tribunal said the conduct was serious rather than gross misconduct, partly because of the way personal and military property had become mixed together and because the Cyprus issues were closer to negligence and poor record keeping than fraud.

The unfair dismissal claim failed. The tribunal held that the respondent had a potentially fair reason for dismissal based on conduct, that the investigation was fair and detailed, and that there was a genuine and honest belief in misconduct based on reasonable grounds. It also held that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses, taking into account the claimant's attitude during the process and his unwillingness to accept responsibility. The tribunal explained the different outcome for Ms Keeton by reference to the separate reasons given in her appeal outcome.

The holiday pay claim also failed. The tribunal was not satisfied that the claimant had shown entitlement to any further payment for untaken holiday. There was no finding of any ACAS Code breach on the evidence before the tribunal.