Members: Ijaz Ashraf Peter Kelman Mr R D Hutchison v Renfrewshire Council — 2017

The claimant, a teacher employed by Renfrewshire Council, was dismissed after events at a senior prom. The respondents accepted that he had made one protected disclosure about the handling of incident reports, but the Tribunal accepted evidence that the dismissing officer was unaware of the disclosure and was not influenced by it. The Tribunal found no evidence from which it could infer that the disclosure was the reason or principal reason for dismissal.

On ordinary unfair dismissal, the Tribunal found that conduct was the reason for dismissal. The claimant had admitted the factual basis of the allegations, including drinking to drunkenness, kissing a leaver in a prank described as "gaffing", sleeping in a hotel room with leavers while partly undressed, poor judgment in interactions with pupils, and conduct potentially bringing the Council into disrepute. The Tribunal found that the prom had a close connection with the school and that the respondents were entitled to treat the conduct in that context.

The Tribunal considered alleged procedural failings under JNC14 and the ACAS Code, including accompaniment, suspension review, trade union notification, and witness statements. It found no breach of the ACAS Code and either no relevant procedural breach or no breach sufficient to make the dismissal unfair. It accepted that mitigation, including long service, health, stress, absence of complaints, and the claimant's record, had been considered, but held that dismissal for gross misconduct was within the band of reasonable responses.