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The need for a proper investigation
[ch 7: page 36]As always, a dismissal will be unfair if the employer has failed to carry out a proper investigation. The more serious the implications of the disciplinary allegations for the employee concerned, the more thorough the investigation must be (Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust v Roldan [2010] IRLR 721). Here is a good example:
An unidentified worker sent an offensive email from a computer to which Argos stockroom leader Mr Dos Reis had access, along with seven other members of staff. After viewing CCTV footage, Argos became convinced that Dos Reis was the culprit and following a brief investigation, he was dismissed for gross misconduct.
Finding the dismissal unfair, the tribunal said that Argos was wrong to accept at face value the accounts of other members of staff. Instead, they should have asked themselves what could have motivated Dos Reis to act out of character by sending a malicious email to someone he barely knew. They should also have considered his lack of training on the software used to send the offensive message, and his previous clear disciplinary record.
Argos Ltd v Campos Dos Reis UKEAT/0285/10/JOJ
For more information about investigations, see LRD’s booklet, Discipline and Grievance Procedures (www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1790).