Unfair dismissal?

mazworld15

Hi all
Can't sleep so angry and worrying about my best friend who's been sacked from work, would really welcome your input/help/expertise?
My freind has worked in a bakers for 4 years.
New Area Manager , takes against her.
Half bottle of juice in the fridge, he asked her who it belonged to, she said it's mine.
"Where did you buy it?"
"Can't remember, Iceland maybe"
He left, came back half an hour later and said Iceland don't sell it, we do, batch no matches our stock, you stole it, gross misconduct, sacked
She did not take it from the bakery
2 days later my freind remembers walking thro Superdrug-of course I bought it there!
She's picked up the rest of the bottles from Superdrug, same batch no that the bakery manager said is unique to their store
Is this ridiculous??? Or am I biased??
Surely they can't sack her for something she didn't do??
Any advice gratefully received xx
Why do bad things happen to good people??? sick of it

sammyjammy

If what you say is a fair assessment of what happened then they have not followed procedure. Does your friend have an employee handbook or something? Can she contact the HR department?

I'm no expert but this sounds like unfair dismissal to me.

Undervalued

To dismiss someone fairly in law an employer does not need proof, only a "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place.

However, based only on what you say here it would seem that the employer has not conducted a proper investigation and therefore cannot even have a reasonable belief. In that case this would amount to unfair dismissal.

The first stage is to tell the firm in writing that she wishes to appeal. They should arrange an appeal hearing broadly along the lines set out in the ACAS guidelines. She would have the right to be accompanied by a fellow employee or a trade union representative. If that fails then she has the option of filing an unfair dismissal claim.

Vectis

My guess is that there's slightly more to this than half a bottle of orange juice.

jobbingmusician

It does seem that the employer has not followed any recognised employment procedures - this makes me feel angry too! I suggest that your friend writes to the head office stating that she wishes to take out a grievance against the manager. Something along the lines of


'On [insert date] I was dismissed from my post at [company name] since my manager, [insert name] concluded that I had stolen a bottle of orange juice. The manager asked where I had bought the bottle, and I could not recall clearly at the time, and suggested I might have bought it at Iceland. When the manager found that the bottle was NOT purchased at Iceland, she dismissed me immediately, without following any recognised disciplinary procedure or giving me time to consider where I actually purchased the juice.


This is clearly not the action of a reasonable employer, and I believe that I have a watertight case for unfair dismissal. None of the processes advised by ACAS were followed, and there was no proper investigation or disciplinary hearing before I was dismissed. I would therefore like to raise a grievance against this manager for not following a proper disciplinary procedure.


I am now in a position to demonstrate that this bottle of juice was purchased at Superdrug. I am thus appealing against my dismissal, and the way the disciplinary process was handled. Rather than disgrace the name of [name of bakery here] by taking them to tribunal immediately, I am prepared to accept reinstatement in post plus back pay for the period where I have been unemployed. I would also expect my grievance against [manager name] to be treated as a formal grievance.


I await your prompt response - you will be aware that my tribunal application must be made within 3 months of my dismissal date, so I will be filing a tribunal application if I do not hear from you by [insert date here].


And then your friend should TAKE THEM TO TRIBUNAL if she can afford it (assuming that the whole story is indeed given here!)

redcard

My friend asked if you could ask your friend to explain a bit more about the disciplinary procedure that was followed.

Let me know and I'll let my friend know

mazworld15

redcard wrote: »

My friend asked if you could ask your friend to explain a bit more about the disciplinary procedure that was followed.

Let me know and I'll let my friend know

Will do, thank you

mazworld15

jobbingmusician wrote: »

It does seem that the employer has not followed any recognised employment procedures - this makes me feel angry too! I suggest that your friend writes to the head office stating that she wishes to take out a grievance against the manager. Something along the lines of


'On [insert date] I was dismissed from my post at [company name] since my manager, [insert name] concluded that I had stolen a bottle of orange juice. The manager asked where I had bought the bottle, and I could not recall clearly at the time, and suggested I might have bought it at Iceland. When the manager found that the bottle was NOT purchased at Iceland, she dismissed me immediately, without following any recognised disciplinary procedure or giving me time to consider where I actually purchased the juice.


This is clearly not the action of a reasonable employer, and I believe that I have a watertight case for unfair dismissal. None of the processes advised by ACAS were followed, and there was no proper investigation or disciplinary hearing before I was dismissed. I would therefore like to raise a grievance against this manager for not following a proper disciplinary procedure.


I am now in a position to demonstrate that this bottle of juice was purchased at Superdrug. I am thus appealing against my dismissal, and the way the disciplinary process was handled. Rather than disgrace the name of [name of bakery here] by taking them to tribunal immediately, I am prepared to accept reinstatement in post plus back pay for the period where I have been unemployed. I would also expect my grievance against [manager name] to be treated as a formal grievance.


I await your prompt response - you will be aware that my tribunal application must be made within 3 months of my dismissal date, so I will be filing a tribunal application if I do not hear from you by [insert date here].


And then your friend should TAKE THEM TO TRIBUNAL if she can afford it (assuming that the whole story is indeed given here!)

Thank you so much

dylan0103

Sounds like there could be a little more to this than is being said here. Now, from what you have said it sounds like this was a rushed process. If it is correct then your friend is going to need to find someway of proving she purchased the bottle of juice from another shop. This could be receipt, bank statement ect ect. The employer does NOT have to prove anything, its up to the employee to prove otherwise.

mazworld15

dylan0103 wrote: »

Sounds like there could be a little more to this than is being said here. Now, from what you have said it sounds like this was a rushed process. If it is correct then your friend is going to need to find someway of proving she purchased the bottle of juice from another shop. This could be receipt, bank statement ect ect. The employer does NOT have to prove anything, its up to the employee to prove otherwise.

She did go in all the shops around the bakery and she'd got it from Superdrug, she remembered as soon as she walked in. There were 4 bottles left on the shelf at Superdrug so she bought the 4 of them and got a receipt (day after she got sacked) they are all the same barcode as the one in the fridge at her work that they are accusing her of stealing. Asked her to go back to superdrug ask if they have CCTV that might show her buying the offending bottle there.

[Deleted User]

Just goes to show, in our place it is OK to take someone else's milk that they brought, noone asked and still it not be classed as theft! it's not apparent to the employer who couldn't give two hoots, somebody suggested laxatives put in the carton but that would just backfire no doubt, shame, quite amazing when an employer is quick enough to shout theft on other matters though, makes me bulk

I wouldn't let it drop personally maz, there is evidence for a reason, sorry for the silly situation and hope it gets resolved