Claimant v Community Ambulance Service Ltd
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal found the respondent had a genuine belief based on reasonable grounds that the claimant was guilty of gross misconduct including manual handling failures, attempting to bribe a patient by leaving £20, and bringing the company into disrepute. A reasonable investigation was carried out. Dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses. The claimant admitted multiple breaches of policy and procedure.
The tribunal found the claimant was guilty of gross misconduct. The respondent's decision to dismiss was made on the basis of the totality of misconduct including manual handling failures, failure to report immediately, bringing the company into disrepute, and attempting to bribe the patient. The respondent was therefore entitled to dismiss without notice.
Facts
The claimant, an Ambulance Care Assistant with nearly 20 years' service, was dismissed following an incident on 21 June 2024 in which a dialysis patient fell from his wheelchair due to incorrect manual handling. The patient sustained injuries to his toe and amputation stump. The claimant left £20 with the patient, which the respondent interpreted as attempted bribery. The patient complained to hospital staff, and a safeguarding referral was made by a district nurse. The claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct including manual handling failures, attempted bribery, and bringing the company into disrepute.
Decision
The tribunal dismissed both the unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims. It found the respondent had reasonable grounds to believe the claimant was guilty of gross misconduct, conducted a reasonable investigation, and that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses. The tribunal found some procedural unfairness in that findings were made on allegations not put to the claimant, but this did not render the overall dismissal unfair given the admitted conduct.
Practical note
A long-serving employee can be fairly dismissed for gross misconduct where there are multiple serious failings in patient safety, even if individual elements (such as manual handling errors) would not justify dismissal in isolation, and the totality of conduct justifies summary dismissal.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 3311810/2024
- Decision date
- 25 September 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 2
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- healthcare
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- solicitor
Employment details
- Role
- Ambulance Care Assistant
- Service
- 19 years
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister