Gross misconduct? Being dismissed? HELP!

WestonDave

Where you stand is very much on the wrong side of the balance of probabilities. In order to dismiss you they need to establish that on the balance of probabilities (not beyond reasonable doubt as would be the case in a criminal trial) you did what you are being accused of. With a number of statements against you and none backing you - that balance of probabilities is horribly stacked towards being disciplined.

michelle2008

Have you apologised for throwing the drink?

Chantelle_91

Yes the drink has been apologised for...

Sambucus_Nigra

If the statements contradict each other, then which one is the head believing? She can't believe them all so presumably you can call to have them all thrown out.

Fire_Fox

Chantelle_91 wrote: »

1. My colleagues had not had the "sense to call it a day" they had in fact been told to leave the pub.
2. I did not decide to be "one of the lads" I in fact was sticking up for myself as I had been bullied all night by a large group of women who were clearly out to make trouble (of course it was not the best way to go about it but there you are).
3. And it is not a case of "growing up into a decent employee" as I have already been told that I am a model employee and my work has never been faulted.

My employer has already stated that what I get up to in my own time is my own business and as I have already previously stated she is more concerned with the nature of the conversation NOT the drink throwing. I need to know where I stand with regards to that.

'Sticking up for yourself' is not the mature course of action, surely you don't teach children at the school to assault people when they feel they are being bullied? Best thing to do would have been to leave the pub way before it escalated, can't see why you would stay in a pub where you were being 'bullied' for a whole evening much less once your friends had been thrown out.

Sorry but I agree you are best resigning as your union rep advises, you may well not be entirely at fault and it may well not be fair but you made some very poor choices. Even if you took this to tribunal you could end up with media publicity which future employers could find through Google, or parents who don't want someone who can't handle bullying in a mature manner working with their children.

dacouch

Fire_Fox wrote: »

'Sticking up for yourself' is not the mature course of action, surely you don't teach children at the school to assault people when they feel they are being bullied? Best thing to do would have been to leave the pub way before it escalated, can't see why you would stay in a pub where you were being 'bullied' for a whole evening much less once your friends had been thrown out.

Sorry but I agree you are best resigning as your union rep advises, you may well not be entirely at fault and it may well not be fair but you made some very poor choices. Even if you took this to tribunal you could end up with media publicity which future employers could find through Google, or parents who don't want someone who can't handle bullying in a mature manner working with their children.

Surely bullying should be reported to a teacher

zzzLazyDaisy

I have to say that I am surprised that the union rep is advising you to resign, as the usual advice to someone with an otherwise unblemished record would be to attend the hearing, explain that what happened, apologise for your conduct, show remorse, and hope that you would be given a final written warning (along the lines of what WestonDave said in his post above).

Which leads me to think that what you are alleged to have said in the conversation is very serious indeed, in the context of a school employment?

Your union rep should have explained the procedure to you, but just in case...

The person conducting the hearing does not have to prove that you did in fact say what you are alleged to have said.

What s/he does have to do is to conduct a thorough investigation - which includes taking statement from other people involved, meeting with you to hear your version of events, and making any follow up enquiries. S/he then must come to a reasonable conclusion based on the facts revealed by that investigation, which s/he honestly believes to be true.

As someone else has said, this is a long way from proving beyond reasonable doubt that you did in fact say what you are alleged to have said.

As regards what your headmistress has said - if she really has said that you are guilty of gross misconduct and bringing the school into disrepute, that is a serious breach of procedure, as this suggests that a decision has already been made before they have even had the disciplinary meeting. However I suspect that is not quite what has been said, but how you have interpreted the letter informing you that you are required to attend a disciplinary meeting?

If that is the case, then you should understand that because the conduct complained of is capable of amounting to gross misconduct, the letter must warn you that your job is at risk. This does not mean that it has already been decided that you did what is alleged, or that it has already been decided that the appropriate sanction is dismissal. What it means is that these things are being considered.

As I say, I am surprised that you are being advised to resign, but this may be that the union rep has access to information that you either haven't told us, or don't know yourself (which should not be the case).

But if your best defence is effectively 'they can't prove I said it'.... that is not going to take you very far, because they don't have to prove it.

maninthestreet

With all those written statements from other people present at the pub, who do you think your headmistress is going to believe? It's your word against the word of many others. Which is why you have been advised to resign by your union rep.

fishpond

I would of thought
a) If you resign, you may still get a job at another school.
b) If you take the gamble on the hearing and you are sacked for gross misconduct, snowball in hell chance.

Hope this helps.

zzzLazyDaisy

fishpond wrote: »

I would of thought
a) If you resign, you may still get a job at another school.

Not without a reference from the previous employer, who must give a factual and truthful reference - so is perfectly entitled to state that OP worked for the school between the relevant dates and resigned whilst suspended during an investigation into allegations of potential gross misconduct.