Claimant v Business Computer Projects Limited

Outcome

Facts

Ms Oakley was a Technical Author employed for 16 years. Her PC had technical issues requiring a rebuild which resulted in data on her D drive becoming inaccessible due to a cloning error by the IT team. She had been backing up to the D drive and other media using the limited means available to her under a vague one-paragraph backup policy. The respondent's Managing Director conducted an investigation, concluded gross misconduct, and then conducted the disciplinary hearing himself, dismissing her summarily for four allegations including non-compliance with backup policy, failing to report data loss, providing incorrect information, and bringing previous managers' integrity into doubt.

Decision

The tribunal found the dismissal unfair due to inadequate investigation, serious procedural flaws, and unreasonable conclusion. Mr Marshall acted as investigator, accuser and decision maker. The claimant was not provided with evidence before the disciplinary hearing and allegations were raised for the first time at the meeting. The tribunal found no contributory fault and no Polkey reduction, concluding a fair process would have exonerated the claimant.

Practical note

Legal authorities cited