False accusation of gross misconduct

annandale

People can and do make malicious allegations in the workplace and it can happen totally out of the blue.

Bogalot

Your employer is unlikely to take well to you discussing this with a client, it could be seen as bringing the business into disrepute. Using them as a witness should be a last resort, you should think carefully about whether the benefit of doing so outweighs the potential downside.

annandale

The customer in question was in the shop at the time of the alleged incident. If I had someone who could clear my name when an allegation of assault has been made I'd certainly be asking them to be a witness for me.

The person bringing the business into disrepute is the person making the malicious allegation.

SpideressUK

TBagpuss wrote: »

It seems an absolutely bizarre thing or someone to invent. It seems so strange that it is unlikely it is totally out of the blue. It may be that this is the tip of the iceberg and that the employer is already aware of other incidents or issues relating to her. If that is the case, then they may be being ultra careful to do everything absolutely correctly to ensure that they can discipline or dismiss her, and that they don't want to risk your husband making that harder for them by sayinganything to her or another colleague which might give her leverage.

It's also possible that there was a totally innocent incident which she has misinterpreted -for instnace, that he bumped into her in passing, or that somthing he was moving / carrying did so. IF that is the case then hopefully he will recall and be able to explain.

If she maintains the allegation the nthe employer presumably knows your husband very well based on how long he has worked there, and so they will be aware that it is an unlikely claim.

This woman was involved in another "incident" within the company but of a different nature however she retained her job so maybe you are correct in that area.

I have asked him did he trip and maybe fall against her or did he accidentally touch her in any way as he walked past etc and he is adamant he made no physical contact with her at all.

My husband has a (recently discovered) medical condition which over a few years has started to affect his speach and cause him to have some level of slur in his words. We are concerned that his employer may no longer want him due to that and might use this as a "reason" to get rid of him. He is also approaching his 25 years service and apparently the employer pays a few hundred pound in bonus at that time so we are concerned they may want him gone in order to save that money. However, he is and always has been a good worker who has some of the top sales figures in the company and who has had next to no time off in ilness in the past 21 years so if justice prevails then they will hopefully take that into consideration.

annandale

Is he in a union?

SpideressUK

Xbigman wrote: »

Is the accuser also suspended? They should be in these circumstances. And you should both be under instruction not to talk to colleagues.

What will the witness say? Its not necessary to see the punch itself. If the witness says there were words exchanged that would set the background to the accusation. That could be enough.

There are several ways to play this.
Be reasonable. He doesn't know what the accusation is about - no hard feelings. Play it down. Be prepared to eat poo and take a telling off and maybe have to apologise. The accuser thinks they've won and your husband still has a job.

If the first option isn't acceptable or if you think its too serious to play down your husband might want to consider a counter complaint that this was a malicious accusation. The downside is that this will make it far more likely someone will get sacked. And it might be him.


Darren

As far as we know the accuser is not on suspension and continues to work there (most likely getting extra money for covering the shifts my husband is now not allowed to do - which in itself could be a good motivation for her to make false allegation)

The witness has already said to my husband that nothing happened and he will testify to that. If this does go further and if we are allowed to have a "say" I would ask that the witness be able to give testimony to the "atmosphere" in the shop at the time ie was there any arguing or feel of hostility etc.

My husband is an honest man and even for the sake of keeping his job he would not be able to live with himself if he had to lie to say that he did something he did not do. In our particular case there could be further repercussions other than just the loss of employement. We are approved adopters and waiting to be placed with a 2nd child - it is possible that if he is dismissed for that accusation (proved or not) that the agency may have no choice but to de-register us and we would be forever blocked from having another child. In adoption there can be no history of any type of "violence".

Bogalot

annandale wrote: »

The customer in question was in the shop at the time of the alleged incident. If I had someone who could clear my name when an allegation of assault has been made I'd certainly be asking them to be a witness for me.

The person bringing the business into disrepute is the person making the malicious allegation.

That is irrelevant. If you discuss company matters with outside parties there is the potential for disciplinary action against you.

I'm sure your comments are well intentioned but the OP's husband needs proper advice, not just some random opinion on what you might do in their situation.

SpideressUK

ohreally wrote: »

Is it possible that something has motivated her to make this allegation?

What relationship did he have with her prior to this?

Yes. Each staff member (like in many shops) have "add on sales" targets where they have to offer a promotional item (or items) to every customer who is at the till to buy something. My husband has an extremely high success rate and is usually top or next to top in his company for this on a consistant basis. This female covers his lunch break and the rest of the day/evening after he ends work - sometimes just as he has been ending part of his shift a customer has come in and he has served them (stil within his shift) and they have sometimes bought several "add on items". It may be this female feels those "add on sales" should have been hers. As far as his relationship with her prior to this is concerned he said he has always got the impression that she did not particularly like him but there is no known reason why other than maybe because he isn't one for going drinking or on company "dos" etc so not "part of the crowd" in that sense.

SpideressUK

Bogalot wrote: »

Your employer is unlikely to take well to you discussing this with a client, it could be seen as bringing the business into disrepute. Using them as a witness should be a last resort, you should think carefully about whether the benefit of doing so outweighs the potential downside.

I spoke with ACAS for advice today. They said that normally a person is told not to discuss it with anyone in the company once they have been told about suspsension. My husband cannot remember if he was told that or not as he was totally in shock at the time and naturally wanted to speak to someone who he knew had been there at about that time and who could testify to what actually happened. However, from what ACAS say it seems we may not get to have a "say" as such on anything so all we can suggest, if we get the chance to, is that they may wish to speak to this person who was a customer at about that time and let the company decide if they want to take that route.

SpideressUK

annandale wrote: »

The customer in question was in the shop at the time of the alleged incident. If I had someone who could clear my name when an allegation of assault has been made I'd certainly be asking them to be a witness for me.

The person bringing the business into disrepute is the person making the malicious allegation.

My husband was just totally in shock at the time and the first thing he thought to do (I'd have thought natural for anyone to do) was to speak with the person who he knew might have been there at the time to ask them to testify to what actually happened.