Unfair Dismissal?

Phobious

Hey Guys,

My Friend was fired today for gross misconduct after standing up for themselves after a customer made a complaint against them for poor service. My friend is pretty sure was actually fired for asking about the hoilday pay shes owed.

She has been working in the business for 5 years.

Anyone ever been in similar position and have experience?

jblack

Phobious wrote: »

Hey Guys,

My Friend was fired today for gross misconduct after standing up for themselves after a customer made a complaint against them for poor service. My friend is pretty sure was actually fired for asking about the hoilday pay shes owed.

She has been working in the business for 5 years.

Anyone ever been in similar position and have experience?

Gross misconduct is the only ground and employer can terminate without notice. The employer is subject to strict obligations of proving substantial grounds and compliance with fair procedures.

Terminating someone's employment is a minefield.

Your "mate" needs to see a solicitor.
From what you present it is very possible she may bring a claim, but to go further is breach of charter.

Procrastastudy

Depends on what you mean by standing up for themselves - and to who.

Telling the customer to go and enjoy some private time with themselves would probably not be a good thing.

That said this is defo one for running by a solicitor. Phone round and get one who'll give you a free / cheap first consult. Shop around!

jblack

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Depends on what you mean by standing up for themselves - and to who.

Whether a dismissal is unfair or not does only not depend on what they did and to whom, it, as mentioned in my previous post, will also be an unfair dismissal where the employer has not complied with fair procedure.

Gross misconduct alone may provide a defence to giving no notice, but it does not afford a complete defence to a dismissal as fair procedure must be complied with.

Procrastastudy

I don't dispute that. I was infering (as there is very little info) that the employer at least paid some lip service to some sort of disiplinary procedure.

Perhaps I am confusing unfair and wrongful dismissal? I've seen plenty of people rail roaded though retail 'procedures' that if the EAT has any sense of fairness would find in favour of.

Farcear

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

I don't dispute that. I was infering (as there is very little info) that the employer at least paid some lip service to some sort of disiplinary procedure.

Perhaps I am confusing unfair and wrongful dismissal? I've seen plenty of people rail roaded though retail 'procedures' that if the EAT has any sense of fairness would find in favour of.

Wrongful dismissal -- Termination where the employer didn't give the required notice.

Unfair dismissal -- Termination where the employer can't justify the termiation.

Fair Procedure is another layer of protection on top of this and you can see how both Wrongful and Unfair Dismissal could arise in a situation of summary dismissal.

However, summary dismissal is a very different beast to "normal" termination for misconduct by an employee so employers have to be very careful.

godtabh

Aren't all dismals (except with the completion of a fixed term/goal contract) considered unfair until proven otherwise?

Farcear

godtabh wrote: »

Aren't all dismals (except with the completion of a fixed term/goal contract) considered unfair until proven otherwise?

Yes.

Phobious

Do I need a solicitor specialized in employment law or should any do? And does anyone have any good solicitors you could recommend?

Clintyman

Hi guys, I've just been fired from my job for basically calling a customer an eegit. I've worked there for 6 years. Was told that it was on the grounds of gross misconduct. The original complaint mentions nothing about the word "eegit" being used. Is it even a curse word?? Have I any grounds for unfair dismissal?

Thanks in advance,
Craig.

Pat Mustard

Clintyman wrote: »

Hi guys, I've just been fired from my job for basically calling a customer an eegit. I've worked there for 6 years. Was told that it was on the grounds of gross misconduct. The original complaint mentions nothing about the word "eegit" being used. Is it even a curse word?? Have I any grounds for unfair dismissal?

Thanks in advance,
Craig.

"Eegit" appears to be a somewhat recent variant of "eejit", which is defined by Collins Dictionary as being the Scottish and Irish word for "idiot" (sense 2), being:

a foolish or senseless person

So, is it a curse word, or foul language? No.

Is it insulting to the customer? Possibly.

Is it gross misconduct? Not allowed to offer legal advice on this forum, I'm afraid. However, some previous grounds for termination of employment on the grounds of gross misconduct have been graver activities like stealing or assault.

You should dig out your paperwork and work contract (if any) and make an appointment to see a solicitor as soon as possible, bearing in mind that there are strict time limits governing actions for unfair dismissal.