Opinions Please - Angry Phonecall to Ex Assistant

November5th

Would like to know how people would judge this situation.

A friend of six months is taken on as an assistant on a personal recommendation, the job would not have been offered without this recommendation.
The assistant starts a training period, but is not a contracted employee.
The assistant quits without explanation and refuses all contact with the senior manager that recommended this friend, but in a short meeting with the MD insults the entire company and the senior manager responsible for his hiring.
The senior manager calls this ex assistant after they have quit and after working hours in a very angry call about their behaviour (remonstrative).
The senior manager is fired for gross misconduct based on this recorded voice message alone.

Was this a personal call? Was it any business of the employer?

bluetownbarry

November5th wrote: »

Would like to know how people would judge this situation.

A friend of six months is taken on as an assistant on a personal recommendation, the job would not have been offered without this recommendation.
The assistant starts a training period, but is not a contracted employee.
The assistant quits without explanation and refuses all contact with the senior manager that recommended this friend, but in a short meeting with the MD insults the entire company and the senior manager responsible for his hiring.
The senior manager calls this ex assistant after they have quit and after working hours in a very angry call about their behaviour (remonstrative).
The senior manager is fired for gross misconduct based on this recorded voice message alone.

Was this a personal call? Was it any business of the employer?

You really need to give more information for an informed opinion. However, on your penultimate paragraph, on the face of it, it's of no consequence that the manager was phoning out of office hours to an ex-employee. He was still employed & the employers have every right to bring disciplinary charges against him. On the face of it, dismissal seems harsh, but it really depends on the circumstances. He may possibly have a claim at an ET (assuming he has more than 12 months service). But this really comes down to why he was dismissed.

Uncertain

November5th wrote: »

Was this a personal call? Was it any business of the employer?

Personal Call - NO

Business of Employer - YES

The firm are quite entitled to treat the behaviour you describe as misconduct (possibly even gross misconduct).

Whether dismissal was a fair and proportionate response would depend on what was said, any relevant terms in his contract and his past record.

Sambucus_Nigra

Whoops.

Senior manager needs management training I think. Or did.

November5th

The case is going to tribunal. There are many further accusations, all of which have been disproved, but I wanted to single this out, being the only one the employer has left.

Surely it is a personal call between (ex) friends?
Just how much is it subject to the opinion of the panel?
The company themselves were not referred to in anyway in the call.

The assistant had quit, so was not an employee (also never contracted), and had spent a mere five days over two weeks at the company.
The previous friendly relationship going back six months outside of work can be shown via emails.

Uncertain

November5th wrote: »

Surely it is a personal call between (ex) friends?
Just how much is it subject to the opinion of the panel?
The company themselves were not referred to in anyway in the call.

You said it was "a very angry call about their behaviour (remonstrative)".

How can this not relate to the company?

It would be a personal call if it wasn't related to work in any way - not otherwise!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Whoops.

Senior manager needs management training I think. Or did.

yep..............

Bamber19

transparent post is transparent.

November5th

Uncertain wrote: »

You said it was "a very angry call about their behaviour (remonstrative)".

How can this not relate to the company?

It would be a personal call if it wasn't related to work in any way - not otherwise!

Interesting and true, the senior manager was relating their personal grievance, however it is as a result of the assistant being hired at the company.

Here's the big one: the assistant was given the senior managers job at least five hours before the angry call was made.

Sambucus_Nigra

November5th wrote: »

Here's the big one: the assistant was given the senior managers job at least five hours before the angry call was made.

So Senior Manager walked into it? It was a set up?

November5th

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

So Senior Manager walked into it? It was a set up?

It has transpired that way via the witness statements. Fully admitted and not vague.

Strange the employer and assistant should have admitted something so damaging (including their own emails between each other) but much of this case is a bit off the wall.