Claimant v BMI Healthcare — 2019

The claimant, a Diagnostic Imaging and Cardiology Manager, was dismissed for alleged conduct matters after a lengthy investigation and disciplinary process. The tribunal held that conduct was the reason for dismissal, but that the investigation and disciplinary process were seriously flawed, including failures to interview potentially relevant witnesses, failures to test dates and locations of alleged incidents, reliance on matters not put to the claimant, and taking into account a Christmas party issue that had previously been closed. The ordinary unfair dismissal claim was therefore well-founded.

The wrongful dismissal claim was also proved. The tribunal found that the matters relied on were of a kind that the respondent's own procedures would ordinarily address through warnings, and that the claimant had not fundamentally breached her contract so as to justify summary dismissal.

The Equality Act claims were otherwise dismissed or struck out. The direct sex discrimination claim failed because the named comparator was not in materially the same position, the disability arising claim failed because buying painkillers was not shown to be a reason for dismissal, and the disability harassment claim was not made out. The tribunal accepted that questioning about underwear had a humiliating effect, but struck out the sex harassment claim because it was out of time.

The whistleblowing and victimisation claims were dismissed. The tribunal found the asserted health and safety disclosure was not a qualifying disclosure, the alleged miscarriage of justice disclosure was personal to the claimant, and there was no evidence that any protected disclosure or Equality Act protected act significantly influenced the disciplinary process, dismissal, or later events involving The Imaging Centre.