Modified Dismissal Procedure

The EAT has taken a relatively strict approach to the applicability of the statutory Modified Disciplinary Procedure in O�Neil v. Wooldridge Ecotech Ltd, holding that it did not apply in a situation where the alleged gross misconduct occurred in the morning, the Claimant�s Line Manager consulted with other senior employees on the same afternoon, but he was not informed that he had been dismissed until the following morning.

Lady Smith stated that she was not satisfied that there had been a dismissal "at the time the employer became aware of the conduct or immediately after it" (the wording of Regulation 3 of the Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004).

The EAT went on to find that, in any event, Step 1 of the modified procedure had not been complied with and there had not been a proper investigation. The extent that the original Tribunal had fallen into error was such that the matter should be remitted to a freshly constituted Tribunal.

[Thanks to Anthony Johnson of 1 Temple Gardens for preparing this case summary, and to Ed McFarlane of Mentor for telling me about the case]