Members: K Pirie & R Martin Mr Sergejs Vozmitels v The Highland Council — 2026

The claimant was employed by The Highland Council as harbour master at Uig on the Isle of Skye from September 2017 until his dismissal on 2 April 2025 for gross misconduct relating to the handling of red diesel and to overtime claims for slipway cleaning. The Tribunal unanimously held that the dismissal was unfair. The procedural defects identified were that the dismissing officer had not seen the underlying audit material she relied on and that the claimant was not provided with the underlying evidence (Masternaut data, time sheets and tide tables) supporting the overtime allegations in advance of the disciplinary and appeal hearings. The combined effect of these matters took the procedure outside the band of reasonable procedures a reasonable employer might have used.

On remedy, the Tribunal reduced the basic award to nil under s.122(2) ERA 1996 to reflect the claimant's admitted conduct before dismissal in claiming overtime for slipway cleaning he had not carried out. Applying Polkey v A E Dayton Services Ltd, the Tribunal assessed at 100% the likelihood that a fair procedure would have led to the same outcome, given the overwhelming evidence (including the claimant's own admissions) that overtime had been claimed for work not done and given that the harbour master role was one of considerable trust. The Tribunal added that, had it been necessary, it would have assessed contributory fault under s.123(6) ERA 1996 at 100%.

Accordingly, although the unfair dismissal claim succeeded in principle, the claimant was held not entitled to any compensation.