Claimant v Deeside Marine Ltd — 2019

Mr Jamie Rennie worked for Deeside Marine Limited as a labourer from 28 September 2015 until his dismissal on 29 January 2019. The disciplinary process concerned three matters: leaving work early on 31 December 2018, alleged failure to follow sickness absence reporting procedures, and running the lathes with low oil in December 2018. The tribunal recorded that the claimant accepted he was at fault about the oil levels, and that he had left early, but it also accepted that the words used by Mr Kerr on 31 December were ambiguous.

Applying section 98 ERA 1996 and the Burchell test, the tribunal found that the respondent had a genuine belief in misconduct and that the investigation was sufficiently reasonable for a small employer. It nevertheless held that dismissal was outside the range of reasonable responses. The 31 December matter had already been dealt with by a verbal or written warning, the oil incident had been addressed on 4 December and was not escalated at the time, and the tribunal did not accept that the two incidents together justified summary dismissal.

The tribunal also found procedural unfairness. Mr Gidney investigated the matter and then chaired the disciplinary hearing after concluding that the claimant had lied, while Mrs Temke took part in the earlier process and then heard the appeal. The tribunal was not satisfied that the appeal was conducted by someone with a genuinely fresh mind, and it noted that the appeal focussed heavily on whether there was new evidence. The sickness absence ground was only partly accepted on appeal: the appeal decision accepted that the handbook procedure had not previously been fully adhered to and that the claimant was absent when the instruction changed, but the dismissal was not overturned.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £752, a compensatory award of £8,190 for 26 weeks' loss at £315 net per week, and £500 for loss of statutory rights, making a total award of £9,442. It did not make a contributory fault reduction or a Polkey reduction. The prescribed element was £8,190 for the period from 29 January 2019 to 30 July 2019, and recoupment applied.