In a week (thankfully) of little Covid-19 related news, let's take a look at an Employment Tribunal judgment that has made the news this week.  Though there is of course an important Covid-19 related warning for employers nonetheless....
                          

Philip Staines, a firefighter at the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, made a claim for breach of contract and unfair dismissal after he was dismissed without notice in 2020.  He had been given a final warning in May 2019 after using the word “bitch” in relation to a female firefighter on several occasions, and was told that any similar misconduct within 18 months could lead to dismissal.   Two months or so later, he was alleged to have said to a gay colleague: “How are you doing fella, well you’re not a fella, half a fella.”

When the organisation investigated the complaint, Staines said the comment had been made in relation to his colleague’s height and denied that it was because of his sexuality. He said: “I call him Arthur, Arthur man, half a man… I can’t call him Stumpy or anything else. It’s just banter.”

Staines was also accused of making inappropriate and belittling comments to a female firefighter, including stating that colleagues had “got her well trained”.  An internal investigation into the complaints found that Staines did not use language that was intended to be homophobic, but found that his colleague had reasonably interpreted the wording to have a homophobic connotation and it had caused offence. It found that both incidents were in breach of its staff code of conduct and suspended Staines.

He was invited to a disciplinary hearing in July 2020, after a significant delay due to the lockdown. The fire service found that Staines had not demonstrated self-improvement after his previous written warning for inappropriate language and had not demonstrated understanding of dignity at work. He was dismissed.                          

Staines then submitted an appeal against the decision in August 2020, but his appeal was not heard until December - again, presumably as a consequence of the difficulties caused by Covid-19 and the restrictions in place.  Although the Tribunal concluded that Staines’ comments had been inappropriate and warranted dismissal, it said the employer was not entitled to dismiss the claimant without notice.  It also held that the delay between the appeal submission and the appeal hearing was unreasonable, which was in breach of the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures.

The tribunal ordered the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to pay Staines just over £12,000 though his primary claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed.

The judgment serves as a reminder (amongst other things) to employers that where Covid-19 has caused delays in advancing a disciplinary case or appeal, they may need to exercise caution:  will any decision they reach still be fair given significant delay?