Mr P Gahagan v Openreach Ltd — 2024

The tribunal found that the respondent dismissed the claimant for a potentially fair conduct reason, namely alleged health and safety breaches on 30 May 2023 involving failure to use a roller bar and failure properly to use or position a gas detection unit while working in an underground structure near a petrol station. The tribunal accepted that the dismissing officer had reasonable grounds for believing the claimant had committed the alleged misconduct.

The dismissal was nevertheless unfair because the respondent had not carried out a reasonable investigation and had not acted in a procedurally fair manner. The tribunal found that concerns raised by the claimant about the context of the site visit and the involvement of managers were not reasonably investigated, that the claimant was not given key written evidence in full during the disciplinary process, and that he was not sent the disciplinary invite letter which would have warned him that dismissal was a possible outcome.

For remedy, the tribunal found that the claimant had engaged in culpable conduct by failing to use the roller bar and by failing to ensure the gas detection unit remained properly positioned. It reduced the basic award by 90%. It also applied an 80% Polkey reduction to the compensatory award, then a further 90% reduction for contributory fault, producing a total award of £296.66.