Claimant v The Co-operative Group Limited
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal found the dismissal procedurally unfair due to (1) failure to provide witness statements to the claimant before the disciplinary hearing, and (2) refusal to postpone the disciplinary hearing to allow her to seek legal advice. However, the tribunal found substantial contributory fault and applied a 75% Polkey reduction, concluding that the claimant's misconduct (refusing to work assigned shifts and turning up at wrong times twice) was 'egregious' and she was 'primarily to blame for the dismissal'.
Facts
Ms Haile was dismissed by the Co-operative Group after 13 years' service for misconduct described as 'egregious' - she refused to work assigned shifts and turned up at wrong times on two occasions. The liability judgment found the dismissal procedurally unfair because witness statements were not provided to her before the disciplinary hearing and her request to postpone to get legal advice was refused. However, it found 75% contributory fault/Polkey reduction and 50% reduction to basic award. At remedy hearing, she sought reinstatement but this was refused. The tribunal also found she failed to mitigate her losses by not seeking work until November 2022.
Decision
The tribunal refused reinstatement on grounds it was impracticable (due to her conduct and broken trust) and unjust (given the serious misconduct). It awarded a basic award of £2,686.90 (after 50% contributory reduction) and compensatory award of £5,969.13 (including 10% ACAS uplift for failure to provide witness statements, but subject to 75% reductions for contributory fault/Polkey and limited to 65 weeks due to failure to mitigate).
Practical note
Even where a dismissal is found procedurally unfair, reinstatement will be refused where the underlying misconduct was serious and the employee shows no acceptance of wrongdoing; substantial reductions for contributory fault and Polkey can result in minimal compensation even where ACAS code breaches are found.
Award breakdown
Award equivalent: 20.9 weeks' gross pay
Adjustments
75% Polkey reduction applied to losses from 19 January 2022 onwards
Basic award reduced by 50% for pre-dismissal conduct. Compensatory award reduced by 75% for period 29 December 2021 to 18 January 2022 for contributory conduct. The claimant's misconduct was described as 'egregious' - she refused to work assigned shifts and turned up at wrong times on two occasions.
Respondent failed to comply with ACAS Code by not providing witness statements to claimant before disciplinary hearing. 10% uplift applied as this was unreasonable and resulted in unfair process.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 2301455/2022
- Decision date
- 12 January 2025
- Hearing type
- remedy
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- retail
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister
Employment details
- Role
- Team Leader
- Salary band
- £20,000–£25,000
- Service
- 13 years
Claimant representation
- Represented
- No