Appeal Against Dismissal

Fergie76

I am helping a friend draft their appeal against sacking for Gross Misconduct.

The reason for the appeal is that we feel they have not been treated fairly or inconsistently. The reason for this is that, someone else has been disciplined for the exact same thing and received a final written warning.

My friend has/had a clean disciplinary record at work. The reason we think they were dismissed is that last year, they had some mental health issues and was off work for about 4 weeks. They have suffered with the issues ongoing, but not missed any work because of it since. The manager mentioned the mental health issues during the hearing and seemed to focus in on them.

Also, they record of the hearing is not accurate and the things that my friend said in their defence was either misinterpreted or they have deliberately recorded wrong to back their own story. The hearing wasn't record, just a note taker.

My friend is young and never been in this position before, so they never took anyone in with them.

I know I have been vague, but can anyone suggest the best way to deal with this?

Thanks.

marliepanda

Someone else getting a different outcome to a hearing does not make it unfair.

Masomnia

marliepanda wrote: »

Someone else getting a different outcome to a hearing does not make it unfair.

It could do, but really it would have to be exactly the same circumstances and it's unlikely OP/their friend will know if they are or not.

They should give their version of what was discussed in writing.

I think those could be grounds for an appeal, whether they will listen or not is another matter. Unless there's some earth shattering revelation it's pretty unusual for employers to change their mind.

marliepanda

Masomnia wrote: »

It could do, but really it would have to be exactly the same circumstances and it's unlikely OP/their friend will know if they are

The exact same offends, the exact same reaction/defense, the exact same work history, the exact same discussion at the hearing...

Fergie76

Yeah, we are aware that the likelihood of success at appeal is slim to none, but are exhausting it, so before we go to tribunal.

The other person, is friends with my friend and they both work in a call centre. Stupidly they were call avoiding. My friend had 500 minutes and her friend had over 1000 a longer period and is a team leader.

It was actual the friend that told my friend how to do it without getting caught. :rotfl: Never quite worked out like that. :rotfl:

They both held their hands up at the earliest opportunity and the only difference we can see, is that my friend has the mental health issues. Oh, and they both had different managers do there hearings, but surely this is where HR come in to ensure consistency.

Masomnia

It's pretty widely understood in call centres that call avoidance is GM. So I don't fancy her chances really, as I'm sure they can point to plenty of people over the years that they have dismissed for avoiding calls.

No harm going to ACAS though I suppose.

Fergie76

Masomnia wrote: »

It's pretty widely understood in call centres that call avoidance is GM. So I don't fancy her chances really, as I'm sure they can point to plenty of people over the years that they have dismissed for avoiding calls.

No harm going to ACAS though I suppose.

They know they were stupid and have not denied it. It's just the inconsistency of it all.

She know's of at least two people (including her friend) that haven't been sacked.

steampowered

I would focus the appeal on the issue not being serious enough to constitute gross misconduct.

Pointing to how other people have been treated can be relevant I suppose, but it isn't really a very convincing argument. The employer doesn't have to treat everybody exactly the same and there could be any number of reasons why the other cases were different.

TELLIT01

steampowered wrote: »

I would focus the appeal on the issue not being serious enough to constitute gross misconduct.

Pointing to how other people have been treated can be relevant I suppose, but it isn't really a very convincing argument. The employer doesn't have to treat everybody exactly the same and there could be any number of reasons why the other cases were different.

It would be highly unusual for two disciplinary cases to be exactly the same in all detail, so trying to argue that others have been treated differently is a very difficult thing to prove. Length of service, performance reviews, general behaviour etc can all sway the action taken in broadly similar situations.

JReacher1

Two people got dismissed at my place of work for exactly the same offence. One got fired and one got a final written warning. The one who got fired went to an employment tribunal, won and got a large payout.

Masomnia

JReacher1 wrote: »

Two people got dismissed at my place of work for exactly the same offence. One got fired and one got a final written warning. The one who got fired went to an employment tribunal, won and got a large payout.

Interesting, do you know if the reason they won was the disparity in treatment? It definitely does happen that people win on this basis.