Unfair Dismissal
The Appellant was employed by the respondent as a field care worker. She was dismissed for gross misconduct following allegations that she had stolen money from a client.
The ET found that the dismissal was unfair because of a number of procedural issues (in particular that there should have been an adjournment of the final disciplinary hearing) but that the Appellant was not entitled to any compensation because (a) applying Polkey, if a fair procedure had been followed it was inevitable that she would have been dismissed and/or (b) the compensatory award was reduced by 100% pursuant to section 123(6) of ERA 1996. The ET also dismissed the Appellant’s claim for wrongful dismissal on the basis that she had committed an act of gross misconduct which justified her summary dismissal.
On appeal the EAT upheld the ET’s decision and found that the EJ was entitled to set compensation at nil both under Polkey and section 123(6) and to reject the claim for wrongful dismissal.
Judges:
His Honour Judge Shanks
Citations:
[2022] EAT 5
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.681354