Unfair dismissal?

Undervalued

Foxborn said:

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

There have been multiple times the doors have been left completely unlocked by other staff, but that was before the current manager. The past managers kicked off for obvious reasons, but none of them took disciplinary action because of how insecure the building is to begin with. Somebody trying to break in simply wouldn't even attempt the doors when there are obvious easier ways of entry. The alarm itself would deterrent somebody who stumbles across an unlocked door and anybody actually attempting to break in will do so regardless. Sadly there isn't any paper evidence of this, however I know the cleaners have come to work in the morning and found doors unlocked. I'm just unsure if they would give statements or not because I know they won't want to get anybody else in trouble, including themselves if they didn't actually report it.

My manager who initiated the disciplinary procedure constantly leaves their keys (including alarm fob) in insecure places where anybody can simply pick them up. This can be backed up by witnesses and CCTV but I don't think hypocrisy counts.

It's a bit difficult to research similar cases as mine because my outcome letter states I was dismissed for "allegations from invite letter relating to failure to secure premises". That was the reason I got investigated, my disciplinary invite states nothing. I'm pretty certain I was dismissed for breaching a policy and not my actual action itself.

I did find a tribunal case with the company and it was regarding something else, but the case included information about somebody having a disciplinary for breaching said policy and £10,000 got stolen. The theft would have happened regardless, but if they had followed the policy only £2,000 would have been stolen because the extra £8,000 should not have been on the premises to begin with if they followed the policy. They only got a warning. It's a different scenario, but breaching that policy is gross misconduct and it's evidence that gross misconduct does not automatically mean dismissal like I was told.

Sorry but with respect the majority of this is either completely irrelevant or, at the very least, of far less importance than you seem to think.

The days of automatic tribunal awards of minor breaches of procedure (mentioned in your earlier post) are long gone. Technical wins, if indeed you did win which is far from certain, lead to little if any compensation if the tribunal feels you were partly or entirely to blame for your dismissal. You admit that you were "guilty" so you are only really debating whether the sanction (dismissal) is within the range of sanctions a reasonable employer might choose. For what it is worth I think that is a close call it would depend a lot on the nature of the business etc. If you left a bank, museum or pharmacy with controlled drugs unlocked then that would almost certain be gross misconduct as security is clearly highly important. In a more average situation it may or may not be.

Too late now but I wonder if you had "owned" the problem, apologised profusely and not tried to dodge the problem because of what you claimed did or didn't happen to other people you might have got off with a warning?

Foxborn

Another member of management has shown me the CCTV footage of me locking the door and it doesn't match what I was told during my investigation & disciplinary hearing. I was described in detail how I locked the door but the CCTV footage doesn't show the majority of it. You can't actually see if I did or didn't secure the door. You can't really see anything. From my arm movement it appears I did actually secure the door. It's difficult to tell. The only thing you can see is that I didn't apply an additional lock. 

I honestly don't know if I did or didn't secure the door, but why fabricate the evidence?

Always_Alba

Several years ago I was fired from a job and so i have some experience. I could have appealed but didn't because I didn't want to go back to the company and I decided to put my energy into looking forward. 

I applied for new jobs and was up front about what happened in the old job. Being honest from the very start of looking for a new job is so important,  especially if you like sleeping at night.

You should practice how you might explain what happened at interview, don't dismiss it as a trivial matter but also don't go overboard in your explanation.  I had several interviews and then had one where they needed someone urgently.  I had the skills and so got the job and have been back in work ever since; it took me 3 months from finally being sacked to getting the new job.

Ironically, my old company would only confirm my dates of employment with my new company, nothing about what happened.  I could therefore have said nothing but as above, I like to sleep at night.

And if I can give you one last piece of advice. Keep remembering that you are only half way through this story,  and that you will get to a satisfactory end at some point.