Employment Tribunal - unfair dismissal - student surveys

Euclid_2 · 25 February 2017 at 3:40PM

Hi everyone!
I was an university lecturer. I have been summary dismissed for "deceitfully manipulating students' feedback on my modules". Those are online surveys where students submit opinion on your teaching a certain subject (module). The "proof" was very technical and questionable so I am not going into details. I refuted it during the investigation, disciplinary hearing and appeal. Nevertheless, the employment law allows employers to make decision on the base of "reasonable belief" and "probability". Just to point out - I have not done it. Those surveys are completely irrelevant to my career and duties; my surveys are usually very good and way above the average; I had no motive whatsoever on top of this.
I filed a claim at Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal on the base of: "not taking into account mitigating circumstances and consequences for future employee career" and "the action is not within the scope of reasonable responses for such a deed". The Tribunal does not look at the cases in essence, so I can only object the dismissal not clear my name. I have had more than 25 years of spotless career and service and this dismissal terminates my career in the academia as no-one would hire a dismissed person.

I need some help in the following: has anyone heard that a teacher/lecturer was ever dismissed for falsifying students' surveys? Could you direct me to some specific facts/cases?
I can't afford a lawyer and have to mainly look at everything by myself.
To whomever of my colleagues I mention this reason people were just telling me this is a laughable reason - those surveys does not count for anything (let aside I haven't done it).

Please help.

Undervalued · 25 February 2017 at 4:08PM

Euclid wrote: »

To whomever of my colleagues I mention this reason people were just telling me this is a laughable reason - those surveys does not count for anything (let aside I haven't done it).

Please help.

Obviously if you didn't do it then reason is irrelevant!

However, just supposing you did.....

Then yes, it is a clear breach of trust. Your employer asked you to do something and you deliberately falsified the results!

Given that you are presumably involved in grading students work etc then it would very much call into question your integrity and could be a valid reason for dismissal.

As you say, to dismiss fairly, in law, an employer only needs a reasonable belief that the misconduct took place. A university will know this so what do you suppose they would say gives them a reasonable belief in this case? Even if you subsequently prove that they were wrong the dismissal is still fair (in law) providing it was reasonable for them to have held that belief. They are not expected to have the investigative powers of Inspector Morse (or even Sargent Lewis)!

If they do have a reasonable belief then is dismissal within the range of sanctions a reasonable employer would consider? In my opinion yes for the reasons I have stated. Harsh maybe, but harsh is not necessarily unfair.

Keep in mind that a tribunal, even if you win, cannot stop you from being dismissed. It can only award compensation which would be reduced if you had contributed to the dismissal by being at least partly to blame.

Also, a tribunal cannot order a decent reference (or any reference at all). If this is important then you may be better looking for a settlement agreement with a binding reference and a confidentiality clause.

emsywoo123 · 25 February 2017 at 4:19PM

Euclid wrote: »

Hi everyone!

I need some help in the following: has anyone heard that a teacher/lecturer was ever dismissed for falsifying students' surveys?

I am lecturer in FE as opposed to HE, but we also have the student surveys and accounts at the end of modules, and I cannot even imagine *how* you could falsify them, let alone why.... do they form part of your KPIs?

PHILANTHROPIST · 25 February 2017 at 11:41PM

You do not need a lawyer.

As you will doubtless be aware, since the introduction of ET fees you may, however, lose some £1-2K if you do not win your case. If you currently have no income and have savings of less than £16K you can apply for a fee remission.

If you truly believe that you were unfairly dismissed then tell the truth and you may be successful. Many employers get rid of staff unfairly and work on the assumption that they will not have the funds, courage or tenacity to go through the Tribunal process. If, however, you are tenacious then your employer may, as indicated in an earlier post, bottle it and offer you a settlement agreement. As part of any settlement agreement you must insist on an agreed form of wording for a reference. You will not get an apology, but you can at least hold your head high and get a new position with more confidence.

Best of luck.

Wayne_O_Mac · 26 February 2017 at 12:13PM

Euclid wrote: »

Those surveys are completely irrelevant to my career

Your current predicament suggests this isn't strictly accurate.

steampowered · 26 February 2017 at 12:42PM

In order to defend your claim, the employer would need to prove two things.

First - that the employer had a reasonable belief that you committed the act in question.

In order for the employer to have reasonable belief, there would need to be facts indicating that you did it, and the employer would also need to have conducted a reasonable investigation.

Proving that the employer did not conduct a reasonable investigation, and thus did not have a reasonable belief in your wrongdoing, is one of the easiest ways to win this type of case.

Second - that the act in question was serious enough so as to mean that your dismissal was within of the 'range of reasonable responses' available to your employer.

The standard required will be higher if the employer dismissed you without notice for gross misconduct (rather than dismissing you with notice for ordinary misconduct).

Any mitigating circumstances known to the employer would be taken into account at the second step. Although I would not focus too much on mitigating circumstances as this is rarely a convincing argument at Tribunal.

You need to think about your case in that way - because that is how lawyers think and it is how the Tribunal will write its judgment. You need to very clearly separate those points in your mind, and deal with them separately in your witness statement.

getmore4less · 26 February 2017 at 2:15PM

With that claim you are admitting you did it

PHILANTHROPIST · 26 February 2017 at 3:02PM

Not sure if OP is that interested in member's responses as has not logged on since posting.

Anyhow, Steam presents a good overview. A link to the subject is shown below :

http://www.ppma.org.uk/ppma-news/was-gross-misconduct-dismissal-reasonable-/

It is evident that the OP was dismissed for gross misconduct - they were summarily dismissed.

Was the OP suspended during the investigation ?

For dismissal to fall within the band of reasonable responses is in fact a very broad band and the ET will assume an objective test in regard to reasonableness. The original test for dismissal being within the band of reasonable responses was articulated by Lord Denning as follows :

" If no reasonable employer would have dismissed him, then the dismissal was unfair. But if a reasonable employer might have reasonably have dismissed him, then the dismissal was fair. It
must be remembered that in these cases there is a band of reasonableness, within which one employer might reasonably take one view: another quite reasonably take a different view. One
would quite reasonably dismiss the man. The other would quite reasonably keep him on. Both views may be quite reasonable. If it was quite reasonable to dismiss him, then the dismissal must be
upheld as fair: even though some other employers may not have dismissed him."

As the OP was summarily dismissed, surely there's a danger that if the case did go to a hearing that one outcome may be to uphold the claim, but assert that the dismissal should have been for mere misconduct, and then it may still have been right for the employer to dismiss the OP , but not summarily - thus notice pay may be a compensatory award ?

Undervalued · 26 February 2017 at 4:33PM

PHILANTHROPIST wrote: »

Not sure if OP is that interested in member's responses as has not logged on since posting.

Anyhow, Steam presents a good overview. A link to the subject is shown below :

http://www.ppma.org.uk/ppma-news/was-gross-misconduct-dismissal-reasonable-/

It is evident that the OP was dismissed for gross misconduct - they were summarily dismissed.

Was the OP suspended during the investigation ?

For dismissal to fall within the band of reasonable responses is in fact a very broad band and the ET will assume an objective test in regard to reasonableness. The original test for dismissal being within the band of reasonable responses was articulated by Lord Denning as follows :

" If no reasonable employer would have dismissed him, then the dismissal was unfair. But if a reasonable employer might have reasonably have dismissed him, then the dismissal was fair. It
must be remembered that in these cases there is a band of reasonableness, within which one employer might reasonably take one view: another quite reasonably take a different view. One
would quite reasonably dismiss the man. The other would quite reasonably keep him on. Both views may be quite reasonable. If it was quite reasonable to dismiss him, then the dismissal must be
upheld as fair: even though some other employers may not have dismissed him."

As the OP was summarily dismissed, surely there's a danger that if the case did go to a hearing that one outcome may be to uphold the claim, but assert that the dismissal should have been for mere misconduct, and then it may still have been right for the employer to dismiss the OP , but not summarily - thus notice pay may be a compensatory award ?

Indeed but, as I said earlier, win or lose at tribunal the OP won't get a reference.

To me it all hinges on whether the employer had a reasonable belief that the misconduct took place. If they did then I fear dismissal falls within the range of responses a reasonable employer might choose. Harsh but fair.

OP, look for a settlement. Universities generally like to avoid litigation!

PHILANTHROPIST · 26 February 2017 at 5:48PM

Yes, Valued a Tribunal cannot force an ex-employer to give a reference, and yes, that would be best dealt with as part of a possible settlement agreement. If the Uni do not wish to settle and fight the claim, but lose, then at least the OP's good name would be restored, and doubtless a good sum of money may be paid out given the length of service. Not sure what one should then put on a CV, however; never seen anybody state that they were unfairly dismissed from a previous post !?

WibblyGirly · 26 February 2017 at 6:12PM

Nice to hear a student survey means nothing to you!

As a student, ways of giving module feedback mean a lot to us as we can flag up issues with them and hope that teachers will pay attention!

We complete mid-module reviews on paper. A summary of it goes up on Moodle the week after and I know of one module where the summary went up but, as far as I know, no students filled in the review unless they can do it from email/verbal feedback from a smaller pool of students.

Employment Tribunal - unfair dismissal - student surveys

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