Mr Adam Hatch v Gloucestershire County Council — 2025

Mr Hatch, a firefighter with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service since 2004, was summarily dismissed on 21 February 2024 after allegations of inappropriate physical contact, inappropriate language and inappropriate greetings at work. The tribunal dealt with liability only at this stage and recorded that remedies would be determined at a further hearing in December 2025.

The tribunal found serious flaws in the investigation and disciplinary process. It found that Mr Hatch was not told the substance of the allegations until his investigatory interview on 13 November 2023, that he had no proper opportunity to prepare, that witness statements were not provided to him, and that his responses were not put back to Firefighters A and B. The investigation was described as more like a collation of allegations than a careful evaluation of the evidence, and the tribunal held that this did not comply with natural justice, the DDP or the ACAS Code.

Applying s.98(4) ERA 1996 and the Burchell test, the tribunal found that GFRS genuinely believed Mr Hatch had committed gross misconduct, but that belief was not based on reasonable grounds because the investigation was not reasonable in all the circumstances. The tribunal also found that the disciplinary chair and appeal officer relied on the flawed investigation without properly analysing the weight or probative value of the evidence, and that summary dismissal was outside the band of reasonable responses. The unfair dismissal claim therefore succeeded, with Polkey and contribution left for the remedies hearing.