'Gross Misconduct' Help

Jillica

Hi
Any help on this would be grateful!
My son’s girlfriend got dismissed on Friday!
It says ‘gross misconduct’ but I think they are been really petty about the whole thing.
A quick summery of what happened so please bare with me.
A few weeks ago she threw the office rubbish away on a ‘tip’ on the way to work. It turns out the tip is an illegal dumping ground that is used and the Environmental Health contacted her firm
When work questioned her, she openly admitted it was her, she didn’t realize it was illegal to dump rubbish there. Anyway, they gave her a disciplinary hearing, which she says was more like a chit chat over a cuppa than a serious meeting. They said they were impressed that she made the effort to sort matters out, glad that she was straight forward about it etc then sacked her saying she had thrown away confidential information.
Now I have rung up for info and realize that even if she had thrown the confidential info anywhere, it wasn’t her at fault but the firms. They should have trained her in the data protection act and they didn’t. Also, when the Enviromental Health Officer spoke to her on this matter he said he had wrote to the firm at least two weeks before they actually spoke to her about it. Surely if it was such an important matter to warrent instant dismissal, they should have notified her straight away. The firm did not say a thing untill when they mentioned it on Fri evening, about half hour before her finish time!
I think the real reason they sacked her is because she had a sick period of 3 weeks in December that they were unhappy about
Where do we go from here and what are your thoughts!
Cheers
Jillica

doom

It sounds like there is more to the story.....
The first thing to ask is, how long has she been working at this place, because if it's less than 1 year she will have no rights with regards to unfair dismissal, etc...
The company must have a proper disciplinary process to follow and to dismiss a person for what you are saying, there should have been an arranged meeting where she could have taken a witness with her.
I'm not claiming to be an expert but from the info you've given, it does sound like the company has been a bit underhand. I'd call ACAS ......

Jillica

Hi There
Thanks for your reply!
Thers no more to the story at all, thats it. She has worked there 18 months and it said on the letter she could take a friend with her if i remember rightly.
Shes just put an appeal letter in and is waiting to her from that.
It all to do with a 3 week sick period in Dec than throwing a bag of rubbish away if you ask me!
Shes gutted by thier decision as she has never had any other warings at all either verbal or written.
Cheers
Jillica

amandada

Can I ask why she was taking office rubbish away from the office for disposal? Is this the normal procedure for dealing with it?

chuckles1066

Normal procedures for disciplinary action are fairly standard.

Usually, the first step is a Hearing where the misdemeanours you have allegedly perpetrated are presented to you. You have the right to put your side of the story.

If further investigations are required, your company may suspend you on full pay whilst they conduct those enquiries.

In the case you describe, it sounds like they'd made up their minds before the Hearing what action they were going to take........but I would guess it depends what guidelines she was given on the disposal of waste.

I have to say, taking it home and throwing it on a tip doesn't sound like normal office waste management to me.

N9eav

I agree with you, rather odd. Dumping office rubbish on a 'tip' on the way to work ??

liney

Some points to think about:

Did she have permission to remove the office waste from the office?

Commerical buildings have heir own skips, or at least wheely bins if they on on a highstreet, to dispose of rubbish - why did she need to remove it?

Is confidential information shredded on site? If yes, why did she take it without being shredded first?

Confidential or not, she dumped the waste at a non official waste disposal area, so this would be classed as the illegal activity of fly tipping?

Zazen999

Hi
I've worked for some strange and crass companies over the years; but never has any of them not provided bins for disposal of work waste.

Is the staff disposing of rubbish part of their procedures; or was it that she took it without it being part of their procedures? Ie what was the rationale for her to take the rubbish and disposal of it? If not, was she trained in the procedures during her time at the company? Did she do this often - was it part of her job?

Very strange if you ask me!!!!

Jillica

Hi
Thanks for all your replies!
What she usually does is tidy the office and empty the bins in to a bag and leave outside the office door to be picked up by the estate manager to dispose of. He comes round every day about 9.30 but when she starts at ten she misses the collection so usually takes the rubbish home and puts it in her own dustbin. This particular day, there must have been some fruit in the waste bag and was smelling quite whiffy and because she had forgotten to take it out, she threw it on the 'tip' on the way to work! The confidential information they uuse in the office is just thrown in the communal bins, shes never had any training on the data protection act so didnt realise that sensitive information should be disposed of differently to other rubbish. She has been doing this for the last 18 months.
It was a genuine mistake she made thinking the 'tip' was a collection point for rubbish, as sometimes she been by and there is lots of bags of rubbish then othertimes there could be only a small amount. Shes even seen a wagon there, cleaning the place up so through her lack of knowledge (shes only 20) she had no idea it was wrong!
Like I said, the appeal letter as gone in and they signed for it yesterday so we are just waiting for a reply.
Cheers
Jillica

Kimitatsu

If she has been dismissed for throwing away confidential information yet has not been trained in how to dispose of it properly then she has a case for unfair dismissal. It is down to the company to ensure that she is trained properly and has achieved the degree of competancy required, if after that she breaks the process as laid down in the company manual then she is liable for disciplinary proceedures.

She will need to think about the training she has had and document it.

What does she want to outcome of the appeal to be? It may be that this will end up at a tribunal which could take some time, so she may need to think about looking for alternative employment. Please bear in mind that the company she has left can only legally give a factual reference, or can refuse to give a reference at all, they cannot give her a "bad" reference.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

Jillica wrote: »

Hi
Thanks for all your replies!
What she usually does is tidy the office and empty the bins in to a bag and leave outside the office door to be picked up by the estate manager to dispose of. He comes round every day about 9.30 but when she starts at ten she misses the collection so usually takes the rubbish home and puts it in her own dustbin. This particular day, there must have been some fruit in the waste bag and was smelling quite whiffy and because she had forgotten to take it out, she threw it on the 'tip' on the way to work! The confidential information they uuse in the office is just thrown in the communal bins, shes never had any training on the data protection act so didnt realise that sensitive information should be disposed of differently to other rubbish. She has been doing this for the last 18 months.
It was a genuine mistake she made thinking the 'tip' was a collection point for rubbish, as sometimes she been by and there is lots of bags of rubbish then othertimes there could be only a small amount. Shes even seen a wagon there, cleaning the place up so through her lack of knowledge (shes only 20) she had no idea it was wrong!
Like I said, the appeal letter as gone in and they signed for it yesterday so we are just waiting for a reply.
Cheers
Jillica

And this post shows there were right

Your son's GF had no right to take the stuff off site, it should have been left over night for collection the next day

The company may have done a lot to the mail after to abide by the DPA and your son's GF at best has shown a disregard for policy which is gross misconduct and at worse theft or the like

She can appeal all she wants but their decision and procedures seem pretty reasonable