Case 4103014/2018 · Employment Tribunal
Mr J Brannan v - Solicitor CPI Mortars Ltd T/A CPI Euromix — 2018
- Case reference
- 4103014/2018
- Decision date
- 9 November 2018
- Jurisdiction
- Scotland
- Judge
- Employment Judge Robert King
- Venue
- Glasgow
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Mr J Brannan
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningMr J Brannan was employed by CPI Mortars Ltd T/A CPI Euromix as an HGV driver from 27 April 2015 until 31 October 2017. The dismissal arose from a 26 September 2017 incident at the Hornock Road/Gartsherrie Road junction in Coatbridge, where CCTV showed his fully laden vehicle turning left at the same time as a cyclist passed the junction, resulting in a near miss. The respondent suspended him, investigated the matter, and dismissed him for gross misconduct under clause 12.7 of its handbook, which treated serious misconduct likely to damage the business or working relationship as capable of summary dismissal.
The tribunal applied the Burchell approach and found that the respondent had a genuine belief that the claimant had driven in a dangerous manner and that belief was based on reasonable grounds after a reasonable investigation. The investigation included the cyclist's account, CCTV footage, vehicle tracker data, the claimant's own account, and reference to DVSA stopping-distance guidance. The tribunal accepted the respondent's view that further enquiries of other drivers or external instructors would not have added useful evidence, and it rejected the suggestion that the process was biased because of the earlier grievance raised by the claimant against Chris Jack and Alan Muir.
On fairness under section 98(4) ERA 1996, the tribunal held that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses. It accepted that the respondent's drivers must drive safely, that the claimant had not accepted fault, and that he gave no indication he would change his driving style. The tribunal also found that the omission from the invitation letter to warn that dismissal was possible was a technical breach of the ACAS Code, but not an unfair one in the circumstances, and that any procedural imperfections were cured by the appeal heard afresh by Marc Allen. The claimant's claims for unpaid notice pay and redundancy payment were withdrawn, and no monetary award was made.
Claims and outcomes
3 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal | Tribunal found the claimant was not unfairly dismissed for the 26 September 2017 HGV/cyclist near-miss incident. It held the respondent had a genuine and reasonable belief in misconduct and that dismissal fell within the range of reasonable responses. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Breach of contract | Claim for unpaid notice pay, confirmed by the claimant's representative at the outset of the hearing as withdrawn. | Withdrawn | — | — |
| Redundancy | Claim for a redundancy payment, confirmed at the outset of the hearing as withdrawn. | Withdrawn | — | — |
Legal tests applied
9 references- s.94 ERA 1996
- s.98(1) and (2) ERA 1996
- s.98(4) ERA 1996
- Burchell test
- Iceland Frozen Foods Ltd v Jones
- Polkey v A E Dayton Services Ltd
- s.207A TULR(C)A 1992
- ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
- Taylor v OCS Group Ltd
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
Named in this case and want it removed? Submit a takedown request. The page will be withdrawn on receipt and the editor will follow up within five working days.