Mr MG Donnachie v Mitie Limited — 2020

The only claim before the Tribunal was unfair dismissal. The Claimant had been dismissed after the Respondent concluded that he had failed to follow the Beam Suntory site clocking-in and clocking-out procedure, following an earlier final written warning about the same issue. The Tribunal found that conduct was a potentially fair reason for dismissal and that the Respondent genuinely believed the Claimant had committed misconduct.

The Tribunal found, however, that the investigation was not reasonable. It described the initial investigation as cursory and found that the Respondent failed to interview other staff about the Claimant's assertion that there were problems with the clocking system, and failed to investigate or put to the Claimant Mr Wiseman's view that he was taking excessive lunch breaks. The Tribunal also found that Mr Wiseman had not approached the Claimant's explanation with an open mind and that the appeal did not cure the defects.

The Tribunal further found procedural unfairness arising from the failure to properly investigate, the failure to put material allegations to the Claimant, and the failure to timeously inform him of the final written warning so that he had a proper opportunity to appeal it. No Polkey reduction was made because the dismissal was substantively as well as procedurally unfair, but the compensatory award was reduced by 50% for contributory fault because the Claimant had not paid attention to the clocking-machine screens or raised problems with the process at the time.