Mock Employment Tribunal 4 November Summary of Scenario

Transcription

1 Mock Employment Tribunal 4 November 2014 Summary of Scenario The Claimant in the case is Alex Smallberry. Alex was an Account Executive who worked for the Respondent, who are Apex Financial Services (Wessex) Limited. Alex worked for the company for 5 years. Apex is a small specialist insurance company dealing with financial products. Alex had made a number of close friends in the company during her employment, particularly in the IT department. Alex is an enthusiastic user of social media, including Twitter. As a result, the company asked Alex to take over the management of the company s social media accounts as part of the Account Executive role. Alex has successfully built up the followers on the Twitter account to over 800 and regularly interacts with other users, including customers and potential customers. Alex also continued to use her own social media accounts and posts frequent updates, but has sometimes had to be spoken to by her manager about spending too much time on her smartphone. In April 2014, the company decided it needed to cut costs and the IT department was an area identified where savings could potentially be made. All 5 employees in the IT department were put at risk of redundancy, with 2 positions to be made redundant. Alex was told about the potential redundancies by someone in the IT department. Alex was very upset about this and sent a tweet at 5.15pm on 10 April 2014 expressing her frustration: This place has big problems now dumping loyal employees because of bad management #redundancy #shambolic. Alex had sent the tweet from the company account. She says that she realised very quickly what had happened and deleted the tweet virtually straight away. The next day Alex didn t say anything to the company and hoped the issue would go unnoticed. Unfortunately, one of the company s customers had seen the tweet and contacted Chris Metcalf, the Managing Director, to find out what was happening. A major potential client was due to meet with Chris that morning but cancelled at short notice. Chris was furious at the damage to the company s reputation and Alex was suspended on full pay immediately. Alex was sent a letter on 11 April 2014 inviting her to attend disciplinary hearing on 15 April At the disciplinary hearing on 15 April 2014, Alex was asked for her version of events. She was extremely apologetic and explained that she was upset and posted the tweet in the heat of the moment. Alex was accompanied by a colleague, Sam Jordan, from the IT department at the disciplinary hearing. Chris decided that Alex should be dismissed for gross misconduct. This decision was communicated to Alex a short while after the disciplinary hearing on 15 April 2014, and confirmed in a letter to her the next day. Alex was notified of the decision and of her right to appeal.

2 Alex appealed on 17 April 2014 and was invited to attend an appeal hearing on 23 April The Finance Director, Charlie Russell, deals with the appeal. Alex objected to Charlie hearing the appeal because Charlie directly reports to Chris. This objection is not upheld and Charlie deals with the appeal hearing. Charlie decides to uphold the decision to dismiss Alex and this decision is communicated to Alex by letter on 24 April The company has a social media policy but in the appeal hearing Alex says this was never issued to employees. Alex lodged her claim for unfair dismissal and notice pay in the Employment Tribunal on 10 July The company lodged a response on 10 August In the Tribunal, Alex is referred to as the Claimant, and the company as the Respondent. The Tribunal has listed the case for a one day hearing which is set to take place on 4 November Prior to the hearing, the Tribunal issued Case Management Orders to the parties (shown at pages 3 5 overleaf). These are tasks that must be done in preparation for the hearing. The Case Management Orders issued by the Tribunal for this matter are fairly typical for this type of case. Alex is to be represented by Alexander Bishop of SGR Law, whom she appointed a few weeks before the hearing. Alex is the only witness for the claimant s case. Apex is represented by Nicola Brown of Very Employment Law. Chris Metcalf and Charlie Russell are appearing as witnesses. Page 2 of 5

3 To: Alex Smallberry Ms N Brown Very Employment Law Brighton Mock Employment Tribunal, City College Brighton & Hove, Brighton Office: Fax: BrightonET@mocktribunal.uk Case Number /2014 Claimant Respondent A Smallberry v Apex Financial Services (Wessex) Limited The Claim NOTICE OF A CLAIM NOTICE OF HEARING on Tuesday, 4 November 2014 at 10:00am The Employment Tribunal has accepted a claim against the above respondent(s). It has been given the above Case Number, which should be quoted in any communication relating to this case. A copy of the claim is enclosed for the respondent(s). The Response To submit a response, a prescribed form must be used. Alternatively you may respond online at It must be received by this office by 12 August If a response is not received by then, and no extension of time has been applied for and given, the claim will proceed undefended, or a default judgment may be made. The Hearing The claim will heard by an Employment Judge sitting alone at Brighton Mock Employment Tribunal, City College Brighton & Hove, on Tuesday, 4 November May 2014 at 8.30am or as soon thereafter on that day as the Tribunal can hear it. The Tribunal may transfer your case at short notice to be heard at another hearing centre. 1 day has been allocated to hear the evidence and decide the claim. If you think that is not long enough, you must give your reasons, in writing, and your time estimate. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, request for a postponement or an extension to the Hearing length will not be considered before the return date for the response form. Page 3 of 5

4 You may submit written representations for consideration at the hearing. If so, they must be sent to the Tribunal and to all other parties not less than 7 days before the hearing. You will have a chance to put forward oral arguments in any case. You should ensure that any relevant witnesses attend the hearing and that you bring sufficient copies of any relevant documents. Case Management Orders The parties shall comply with the following Case Management Orders and timetable. By no later than The following shall be done 26 August 2014 The claimant shall set out in writing what remedy the Tribunal is being asked to award. The claimant shall send a copy to the respondent. The claimant shall include any evidence and documentation supporting what is claimed and how it is calculated. The claimant shall also include information about what steps the claimant has taken to reduce any loss (including any earnings or benefits received from new employment). 9 September 2014 The claimant and respondent shall send each other a list of any documents that they wish to refer to at the hearing or which are relevant to the case. They shall send each other a copy of any of these documents if requested to do so. 23 September 2014 The respondent shall then prepare sufficient copies of the documents for the hearing. The documents shall be fastened together in a file so as to open flat. The file of documents shall be indexed. The documents shall be in logical order. All pages shall be numbered consecutively. The respondent shall provide the other parties with a copy of the file. Two copies of the file (unless directed otherwise) shall be provided to the Tribunal at the hearing (and not before). 4 October 2014 The claimant and the respondent shall prepare full written statements of the evidence they and their witnesses intend to give at the hearing. No additional witness evidence may be allowed at the hearing without permission of the Tribunal. The written statements shall have numbered paragraphs. The claimant and the respondent shall send the written statements of their witnesses to each other. Two copies of each written statement (unless directed otherwise) shall be provided for use by the Tribunal at the hearing (and not before). These Orders are made under rule 10 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure The timetable above is part of the Orders and it must be complied with. A claimant or a respondent who fails to comply with these Orders may be liable to having the whole or any part of its case struck out and/or to costs and/or (in the case of failure to disclose a document) to a fine not exceeding 1,000. Page 4 of 5

5 Acas Acas (whose services are free) may be able to help the parties resolve the matter at any time. Enclosures For the respondent(s) A copy of the claim A prescribed response form A copy of the booklet Responding to a claim can be found on our website at All parties A copy of the booklet The hearing can be found on our website at A location map for the office can be found at If you do not have access to the internet, paper copies can be obtained by telephoning the tribunal office dealing with the claim. Signed John Smith For the Secretary of Employment Tribunals Date: 12 July 2014 To: and cc Alex Smallberry 79 Durham Road Rolby Wessex RY15 7AQ Nicola Brown Very Employment Law Justice House Main Street Rolby Wessex RY5 1AW Acas Page 5 of 5