Mr Giresse Mbala v Harrods Ltd. — 2026

Mr Giresse Mbala worked for Harrods Limited from October 2005 and was dismissed with notice in January 2025 for misconduct. The disciplinary proceedings concerned food-handling and stock-processing incidents in February and July 2024. The Tribunal dismissed his unfair dismissal complaint but upheld his wrongful dismissal complaint.

The February incident resulted in a final written warning after food-safety deficiencies were identified following the evening shift on 14 February 2024, when Mr Mbala was the senior chef on duty. The Tribunal found that the errors occurred during his shift, that he was at least partly responsible, and that the investigation and disciplinary proceedings were conducted in good faith. Applying the approach in Davies v Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, it found a prima facie basis for the warning and did not consider the sanction manifestly inappropriate, taking account of Mr Mbala's management responsibilities and the mitigation arising from the busy, short-staffed shift.

For the July incidents, the Tribunal found that lobster and scallops were delivered and later wasted after not being processed. It found that Mr Mbala had some responsibility to check that the lobster was processed and that, as the senior chef on duty on 19 July, he failed to detect or address the scallops. It did not find that an alleged failure to include the items in a 23 July pre-count was established. The Tribunal concluded that Harrods genuinely believed misconduct had occurred, had reasonable grounds following a procedurally fair investigation and disciplinary process, and was entitled to treat the food-handling failures as misconduct. In light of the final written warning, the similar later misconduct, Mr Mbala's management role and the potential food-safety risks, dismissal with notice fell within the band of reasonable responses despite his long satisfactory employment record.

Harrods accepted that Mr Mbala was entitled to 12 weeks' notice but had received payment for only eight weeks. The Tribunal therefore awarded £4,024.15 as damages for breach of contract for the outstanding four weeks, calculated using gross monthly pay to reflect the likelihood of taxation as post-employment notice pay. No award was made for unfair dismissal.