ET Hearing - Employer has faked documents!!

Savannahh

I am livid!!

I have made a claim of unfair dismissal against my former employer. My ET hearing is next month.

To cut a long story short they followed no redundancy process whatsoever: No consultation meeting, did not ask me if I wanted to be accompanied and did not give me the right of appeal. Their process consisted of being called into a meeting room to be told my job no longer existed and I was being made redundant a month later.

I was then asked to train somebody who they said would just be finishing certain areas of the job that remained after I had left. I objected to training this person, was placed on garden leave. I logged into my work e-mail from home for the next 3 weeks & found out that the person I was asked to train was in fact doing my job which still very much existed. Furthermore the company (and my job with this person doing it) relocated a week after I was placed on garden leave - Nice!!

My ex-employer have now produced fake documents which they say proves that they followed a correct redundancy process:

1. They have produced fabricated handwritten meeting notes of a consultation meeting which never took place

2. They have fabricated a typed letter they say they sent me telling me my job was at risk, calling me for a meeting & telling me I had the right to be accompanied

3. They have produced a further sets of fabricated handwritten meeting notes one being the meeting where I was made redundant.

I requested that they produce the computer properties screen of the typed letter proving when it was created, edited etc but they say the document was deleted during their move. I've also asked them for proof of postage but no doubt they say they jusat gave me the letter.

What can I do about the handwritten meeting notes. I am so angry as they've obviously all been made up after I lodged my claim. I undestand there is such a thing as electro-static document analysis (a method of recovering faint imprints on paper) in the case of faked handwritten documents. But I'm not sure if this will be able to prove they weren't written when they were claimed to.

I have asked the Respondent if they will submit the notes for forensic analysis as believe they have been fabricated but they said this was absurb.

ceridwen

Well - when it comes to an Employment Tribunal about this - then look at it this way. They tell a pack of lies, you tell the truth. The Tribunal then decides who to believe. You stand at least a 50% chance of them believing you. Add the fact that the company won't be able to produce proof that they did everything properly (eg your signature for a recorded delivery letter or the like) - because they didnt. That means your chances just got better than 50% of being believed.

So - what have you got to lose? Take them to court for it and good luck.

My guess is that they tried to set you up this way because they knew (obviously) that the company was relocating. They must have worked out that you wouldnt want to relocate (ie would have either refused to do so - or done so very grudgingly). They wanted to avoid this. They figured the easiest way out was to tell a pack of lies and try to set you up - rather than offering you the chance to choose between redundancy or re-locating.

Well - make sure they just got THAT calculation as to what you would do wrong then...

ceridwen

btw - check out the rules as to who you are allowed to have accompanying you at an ET hearing. First and foremost - you need the help of someone who is experienced in what the procedure should have been by the company and can help you prove they didnt follow it.

What I am wondering is whether you have anyway of doing the equivalent of "providing a character reference" for yourself - ie proving to the Tribunal that YOU are not the sort of person who would lie - so that you improve your chances that the Tribunal believes the correct person (ie you).
(no chance of having the local vicar sitting there quietly - obviously with you as a friend - in his dogcollar not saying a word is there?????:cool:)

jazzyman01

Have you agreed to the documents being included in the bundle?

Nassy

First of all don't panic. Just calmy write the respondent's advisor and tribunal and tell them that these meetings didn't take place and that you don't accept these documents in the bundle. Demand once more that they send you the version history of the document proving it was created at meetings they say. Insist on this because you believe the document to be faked. Remind them that you had no appeal meeting and that there were no witnesses to back up the fact such a meeting took place.

Finally do you know the exact times and dates these faked meetings took place. If you do it may be possible for you to prove that you were actually doing something else at this time. Perhaps if you have a witness at work who can help you by providing a statement that these meetings did not take place etc..

Obviously it is normal to be angry but try to remember that if the other side get caugt lying it will be to your benefit.. it is a risk they are taking and in some ways a noose round their neck (they are not confident in their case if they feel they need to lie so blatantly) that you just need to try and tighten it.

Good luck.

Savannahh

Thanks for the replies.

Apparently I can't object to the documents being in the bundle. I need to state in my witness statement that I believe they've been fabricated.

The funny thing is they say they had a meeting with the day after they placed me on garden leave! They've got their dates mixed up. They've produced handwritten meeting notes that took place on this day! They are a small company - just me & 3 directors so no-one else can back me up.

They say they sent me a letter telling me my job was at risk & inviting me to a meeting in 3 days time. They addressed the letter to my home address. I asked them to provide proof from their computer as to when the doc was created (properties screen). They got their IT man to write a vague letter to say that when they re-located the person who wrote the letter's user account got deleted..so they cannot give me this info.. I then asked for proof of postage but they say they don't have this.

The funny thing is I called their external IT man to chat through the letter & he said that they weren't upfront with him as to the reason for the letter - he admitted that the letter could have been written on 4 other computers & even on a laptop where no info was deleted in the move.

I then wrote to the Tribunal & requested they order him as a witness which they have. He's not the sort of person to lie for them..so my barrister should have a field day at the hearing.

They've told so many lies & fabricated so many documents..I hope they get found out at the hearing..will be priceless. These people are supposed to be devout catholics too..makes you wonder how some people sleep at night.

BillTrac

You will find out that devout catholics are the least christian people you will ever meet...:eek:

And I am A CATHOLIC.

FBaby

If one of the meeting supposedly took place after you were on gardening leave, does it specify the time? Could you have a witness that you were doing something else at this particular time?

WhiteHorse

Faking documents actually requires a great deal of thought and careful preparation. Cross index all the documents to see if the chronology and the paper trail fits together. It frequently doesn't in forgery cases (having worked for a firm like yours who did this very thing, I speak from personal experience).

Also file a Data Protection Act request to obtain copies of ALL documents that they hold on you and in which you are mentioned. That's everything - emails, handwritten notes, etcetera. Right down to notes on shirt cuffs. Then check if they mesh in with the firms other paperwork.

Obviously, you want to be able to show that you were elsewhere at the time of the supposed meeting. Now think laterally. Seek to show that they were not and could not have been there.