Dismissed - Employment Law Advice Needed

LegalSec

I was dismissed 10 days ago. I had been, until the end of November, under a Final Written Warning but as that was for only 12 months it was no longer valid. I had an minor argument at work with one of my bosses and a few days later was summoned to a disciplinary for basically ‘not accepting her authority/not her following instructions etc etc’. Despite my final written warning having expired, when I went to the disciplinary they brought up the Final Written Warning and the causes of it again and again and again. I stood my ground and things got a bit heated and two days later I was dismissed. What I need to know is:

1. Once a final written warning expires, can it be brought into a disciplinary decision again?

2. At a disciplinary hearing when arguments are made pointing to management telling lies and not adhering to accepted work practices, can such arguments be considered a fundamental breach of trust or is the disciplinary hearing a forum where to air opinions?

Thank you.

marybelle01

LegalSec wrote: »

I was dismissed 10 days ago. I had been, until the end of November, under a Final Written Warning but as that was for only 12 months it was no longer valid. I had an minor argument at work with one of my bosses and a few days later was summoned to a disciplinary for basically ‘not accepting her authority/not her following instructions etc etc’. Despite my final written warning having expired, when I went to the disciplinary they brought up the Final Written Warning and the causes of it again and again and again. I stood my ground and things got a bit heated and two days later I was dismissed. What I need to know is:

1. Once a final written warning expires, can it be brought into a disciplinary decision again?

2. At a disciplinary hearing when arguments are made pointing to management telling lies and not adhering to accepted work practices, can such arguments be considered a fundamental breach of trust or is the disciplinary hearing a forum where to air opinions?
Thank you.

Employers do not need to issue lesser warnings before dismissal if the conduct is such that it warrants dismissal either with or without notice. So it doesn't matter whether your final written warning was expired or not. What matters is whether your conduct has been such that you "deserve" to be sacked. A final written warning (or any other warning) is not a "don't do this again until the warning expires" notice. It is a warning not to do it again, full stop. You have been warned at least twice not to argue with solicitors and clients. You have have done it again. It is not surprising that your employers have come to the conmclusion that your behaviour is unacceptable and will not change. If it were going to change it would have done so by now. That is a valid argument for a dismissal. Especially if, as it appears, you repeated that behaviour in the disciplinary hearing despite knowing that that was why you were there!

A disciplinary hearing is the place to hear a discip;linary allegation. That is all it is. It is certainly not the place to call your managers liars or tell them how to do their job. But then, that isn't really something to do in the workplace, which appears to be the problem - you just keep on doing exactly that.

You were very lucky not to be sacked the first two times. The third time was the charm. You should have seen the writing on the wall and amended your attitude. You were warned often enough to do so, by your employers and by people here.

dandelionclock30

Op you souded to be really unhappy there anyway to be getting into arguments all the time. I'd be glad to be out of there to be honest and looking towards finding something more to your liking.

aileth

You could've just listened to your employers, rather than watching the clock for the apparent expiry of your final warning, thinking you were in the clear and behaving in the same way you got your final written warning for, "Great it's month 13, my final written warning would've expired, time to tell another client to f*ck off."

BillJones

aileth wrote: »

You could've just listened to your employers, rather than watching the clock for the apparent expiry of your final warning, thinking you were in the clear and behaving in the same way you got your final written warning for, "Great it's month 13, my final written warning would've expired, time to tell another client to f*ck off."

The fact that the OP has responded to this by looking to sue, rather than taking a long lok at themselves in the mirror, is quite telling.

DKLS

Perhaps a new sector would be beneficial for the OP, she doesn't seem suited to the legal sector and I would imagine she will be blacklisted by the local legal firms once word is spread.

Yorkie1

For reference, OP's previous threads provide the context:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4194355=
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273759=
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4255967=
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4298557=
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4390825=
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4858992=