Advice for my son who has been sacked

0161a

I would really appreciate some advice-long story cut short.
My 21 year old Sonhas been working for a company doing sales and had been top salesperson and had been very successful.
Earlier last year, he suddenly became very depressed and had some time off. Sometime later he went back and there was a new manager there , my son felt that she was gunning for him , made comments about his voice being too loud, etc. I suggested that he raised the issue with HR but he didn't want to.
Stupidly, he took out his phone to check for a message he was waiting for. This lady saw him and he got two letters, one for the time off sick and one for the sick leave and 1 for the phone. He also filled in a form allowing the employer to have access to his medical records. At this point, he felt unwell and returned to the GP who put him back on antidepressants.
This week a neighbour who has been like a father figure to him was admitted to hospital

Yesterday, he was feeling very anxious and went to the toilet -taking his phone with him. He checked about the neighbour , switched the phone off and then the exited the toilets, only to walk into the manager who he feels is gunning for him. He got a letter last night to take home and had his disciplinary tonight and was sacked.
He knows he shouldn't have used the phone but he said he was feeling really anxious about the neighbour
He knows that he should not have used the phone but thought that it would be ok as he was out of the office area and was trying to get news on the neighbour. He is absolutely devastated and really liked working there.
My question is: has he got any grounds for appeal?

Sea_Shell

How long had he worked there? Over 2 years?

TELLIT01

From the information provided, it would seem that the disciplinary process has been followed. There is a comment about receiving 2 letters prior to this instance. If that is the case it seems doubtful that there are any strong grounds for appeal even if he has been there over 2 years.
If one of the disciplinaries was about using his phone at work, it was stupid to do it again.

0161a

Not helpful. my son is fully aware of that, he thought he would check his phone while in the loo and switched it off while still in there.
Apparently, the other managers were upset to see him go. and believe that he was victimised by the bullying manager but I doubt they will come forward. My hope is that he could maybe appeal on the grounds of his mental health/anxiety.
I wish he had taken my advice and raised a grievence procedure about this woman- although he did mention it verbally

oldernonethewiser

0161a wrote: »

Not helpful. my son is fully aware of that, he thought he would check his phone while in the loo and switched it off while still in there.
Apparently, the other managers were upset to see him go. and believe that he was victimised by the bullying manager but I doubt they will come forward. My hope is that he could maybe appeal on the grounds of his mental health/anxiety.
I wish he had taken my advice and raised a grievence procedure about this woman- although he did mention it verbally

He could certainly appeal it but he would need to have a genuine case to do so.


If he brings up health issues would these have been documented before by the company and have they been ignored/dealt with?


If the manager was bullying he would need to document how and when this happened, possibly too late now.



How did the manager know he had used a phone in the toilet?

elsien

As already asked, how long has he been working there for?

iammumtoone

0161a wrote: »

Not helpful. my son is fully aware of that, he thought he would check his phone while in the loo and switched it off while still in there.
Apparently, the other managers were upset to see him go. and believe that he was victimised by the bullying manager but I doubt they will come forward. My hope is that he could maybe appeal on the grounds of his mental health/anxiety.
I wish he had taken my advice and raised a grievence procedure about this woman- although he did mention it verbally

Appealing based on his health will not help, he was not sacked for this he was sacked for using a phone it is unrelated.

I know you are thinking along the lines of he had to use his phone due to his health but I can't see that gaining any ground. The correct action would have been to explain to HR his worry and ask if he could look at his phone for news.

Even if he had raised a grievance again this would be unrelated to the sacking as he clearly preformed a sackable offence just because another manager may not have sacked anyone for that offence does not mean the sacking is invalided.

EDIT: this is all assuming it is against company policy to use a mobile on the premises, I am not sure if this was clarified.

0161a

Thanks for your reply.
Yes, the company were aware of the mental health problems and he signed some sort of disclaminer to say that they could contact his GP for verification.

0161a

The manager saw him coming out of the toilet, he was putting his phone in his pocket, he did show it to her to prove it was switched off but was honest and told her he had checked it in the toilet

KatrinaWaves

Third time lucky: how long has he worked there?

LilElvis

elsien wrote: »

As already asked, how long has he been working there for?

Again - how long has he worked there? This may have a bearing on his rights.