Limits of investigation
[page 45]Any decision to dismiss should be taken by the dismissing officer, without lobbying or interference “behind-the-scenes”, for example, by HR or by senior managers (Dronsfield v University of Reading [2016] UKEAT/0200/15/JOJ). HR involvement should be limited to advice and guidance on procedures and not, for example, changing the content of the report. The investigator should be allowed to get on with the job without interference and produce a report that is their own work (Chhabra v West London Mental Health NHS Trust [2014] ICR 194).
A dismissal can be unfair if the dismissal decision-maker interferes with the investigation process (Ethnic Minorities Law Centre v Deol [2015] UKEATS/0022/14/SM).
The employer should tell the employee about any external representations that go beyond legal advice or advice on process and procedure (Ramphal v Department for Transport [2015] UKEAT 0352/14). Managers should not pass partial and misleading evidence to HR (see Cadent Gas Limited v Singh [2019] UKEAT 0024/19.)