Employment Tribunal - help needed

TTC40

I know you came on here with a couple of specific questions & I think they have been answered.

You have also been given some other advice which you may not want to hear, but I tend to agree. If the case is as straightforward as you have said & there is no way that he could have done it, then why did it lead to a nervous breakdown?

It would be reasonable to have expected him to want to try & clear his name - did he attend one fact finding iv & then have the breakdown? Had he experienced any mental health problems prior to this?

I still don't understand why he didn't appeal - if he wanted to clear his name or continue working for the company in the future.

Also I would question the union's support of the case. Even noting they were busy with strike action, there are many union officals & assuming he was a member before the incident I would have expected them to be there. Have you spoken with them about your intentions & if they are going to support the case at ET?

Personally I can't see the relevance of paternity leave to the claim (although note it was relevant to time away from work) & I think the chances of winning a SD claim would be low.

That said, tribunal Chair's are tolerant of people self-representing & will offer some guidance/ patience. My experience is that they are not tolerant if you are unclear or disorganised though.

keyser666

I do hope that the OP doesn't turn up for the tribunal her normal business attire

jacques_chirac

OP, are you still claiming disability benefits due to mental health problems and being unable to cope in unfamiliar places? If so perhaps you should advise the DWP of a change in circumstances, dealing with a tribunal case and representing your partner in an unfamiliar and highly pressured environment would appear to contradict your apparent care needs.

I fail to see the sex discrimination element to your claim. The other person was treated differently because they bothered to defend themselves. It comes across that you tried to use his being signed off as a smoke screen, and this tactic failed.

What concerns me most, if your partner was too unstable to attend a short meeting, why on earth was he left in charge of a baby on his own?

mazza1985

We did defend it - we wrote to them once he received the minutes from the fact finding meeting (which were agreed to be inaccurate by the union) and stated the obvious. The manager then produced another set of minutes completely different to the first, also changing the date the alleged offence took place. Then when we received a copy of the witness statement, it was written 3.5 weeks after the alleged offence took place, and didnt specify what date the offence took place.

Thank you for your concern re my disability status, I did inform dla that I have started university etc, filled in a pack, and my award has stayed the same. Being as I was a support worker and have supported people at employment/benefit tribunals many many times I do not feel the need to ring dla about that.

I would rather not represent my partner, as I have just started a full time degree, but he feels too emotionally involved to look at it objectively.

Sorry if you feel my communication isnt up to 'scratch', my laptop is broken and it is hard to proof read posts on my phone screen due to the size.

Every time I post on MSE I get the feeling that people are trying to 'oust' me or something, like I am a troll. Is this normal?

Pricivius

For argument's sake, let's say the employer took one look at the APL notice and career break request and decided they didn't want your OH any more because of them.

So, they look around and see whether they can dismiss for a perfectly valid reason. A colleague raises this allegation and the employer has their reason. They investigate.

- Minutes can be wrong as long as they are corrected before a decision is made, which appears to have happened here.
- Witness statements can be written months or years after an event. The witness can flag up the issue and then be asked to write a statement much later. This is not a big issue. It would have been nice to have had a statement written as soon after as possible, but it certainly isn't fatal to the argument. It's also not fatal that the date isn't stated - looking back, I can confirm that I had a chicken sandwich on either Monday or Tuesday last week. That I can't remember exactly on which day does not negate the fact it happened, and the fact it happened is the crucial issue in your OH's case, not exactly when.

Your OH is given the opportunity to defend himself in writing to be considered at the Hearing and he declines to do so. The employer looks at the evidence it has and decides based on that; it is perfectly entitled to do so. Dismissed for a valid reason following a more or less okay process.

Any mistake the employer may have made on process can be corrected on appeal and your OH did not give them the opportunity to correct their mistakes. This is why the Tribunal is able to reduce any award by up to 25%.

If you want to show that the GM is a smokescreen, you have to have more than circumstantial "they ignored my letter". You need the smoking gun. I can't see that you have it.

I would suggest the employer is likely to make an offer in the commercial interest and if I were you, I would take it and run.

mazza1985

Thank you. By the time the appeal would have been heard he would have had to quit his job, the career break would not have been open to him with a blemish on his record. This was explained to the judge at the case management discussion 2 days ago. The judge appeared satisfied at the explanation.

Pricivius

Maybe I'm missing something..

- OH starts 9 weeks' APL.

- Employer dismisses 1-2 weeks into APL.

- OH appeals dismissal.

- Employer hears appeal over the next few weeks, overturns and reinstates OH.

- OH finishes APL, wors for 5 weeks and then goes on career break.

Are you saying that the employer could have refused the career break because of the unfounded allegation of GM? That doesn't make much sense.

There was plenty of time to appeal before the career break - OH had 9 weeks of APL followed by 5 weeks before the career break was due to start.

(Unless I've got something wrong - please point it out!)

mazza1985

Sorry for they delay in replying.

Your conduct record needs to be completely clear to be granted a career break. The investigation itself would be enough to stop that. He was dismissed on 1st July, but we did not receive dismissal letter until 10th July. My partners SPP was due to go in bank on 5th July, when it didn't we assumed his pay had been frozen for failure to attend disciplinary meeting, which is what his manager threatened in a phone conversation to me. His SPP was meant to begin 3rd June but it was delayed by 2 weeks whilst we disputed it with them. By the time we received the letter confirming dismissal it was 9 weeks until he would have to leave. And to be honest, his boss was that rude to him and was being that difficult he just simply could not face going back. I know on here the case seems all over the place but I do not want to disclose all of the facts, as we have evidence that I do not think the organisation have, and if they came across it on here by chance it would give them time to try and cover things up. Obviously once documents have been exchanged I would be able to disclose more.

mazza1985

Also, as they had ignored his original application, he would have had to put in a new application at the point of his job being reinstated, and you have to apply at least 3 months before you wish to go off. That would have been very tricky childcare wise as my degree had a fixed starting date.

nightingalesgarden

OP - Why isn't CWU supporting you?

I get that the local rep wasn't really available but you should be able to get further help by ringing their helpline. That's what you pay them for.

They should be able to help with all your questions and they know the employer best. They are a strong union and would be able to fight your corner.