Tribunal Member Ms M Watt Tribunal Member Mr S Cardownie Mr R Logan v British Gas Trading Limited — 2026

The tribunal dismissed Mr R Logan's claims of unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal for notice pay, unauthorised deductions from wages and, in the alternative, breach of contract for holiday pay. It found that British Gas Trading Ltd dismissed him for conduct, a potentially fair reason under section 98(2)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996, based on a report identifying 17 instances of call avoidance in September 2025. It found no basis for his assertions that the dismissal arose from a restructure or from his witnessing a data breach.

Applying section 98(4) and the band of reasonable responses approach, the tribunal accepted that disciplinary officer Ben Buckley genuinely believed the claimant had committed gross misconduct and had reasonable grounds for that belief. It found it reasonable for Mr Buckley to rely on Jamie McLachlan's summary of the calls because the claimant had not challenged the report's contents during the disciplinary hearing. The investigation and procedure also fell within the band of reasonable responses: the claimant knew the allegations and possible outcome, received the relevant documents, attended separate investigation and disciplinary meetings with trade union representation, could present his case and had an appeal. The tribunal found dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses, noting that Mr Buckley considered the claimant's claimed lack of training, mental health and clean disciplinary record.

On wrongful dismissal, the tribunal found that the 17 instances of call avoidance, read with the respondent's Code and disciplinary policy, amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract entitling British Gas Trading Ltd to dismiss the claimant without notice. It also relied on the statement read on the claimant's behalf at appeal, which acknowledged the seriousness of call avoidance and its effect on business operations and customer satisfaction.

The holiday pay and unpaid wages claims concerned 79 hours of alleged accrued but untaken holiday, valued at £1,166.83. The tribunal accepted Gemma Milligan's evidence and the supporting records that no holiday pay or unpaid wages remained due, and found that the claimant had produced no cogent evidence to refute them. All claims were dismissed and no monetary award was recorded.