A flying instructor has been awarded over £19,000 after an employment tribunal found he was wrongfully and unfairly dismissed.
The employee’s boss had thrown a cup of tea at him after an argument about an aircraft. A client waiting for a flying lesson witnessed the entire dispute. The Cambridge Employment Tribunal heard how the employee, Phil Jones, called his boss, Ben Ashman, a swear word and threatened to hit him in retaliation. This lead to Ashman throwing a cup of tea at Jones, which fortunately missed him.
Judge Sigsworth commented: “The respondent is a small business, with no experience of disciplinary proceedings and limited HR support.”
There was a slight reduction in compensation as the size of the company meant its HR facilities were limited. The dismissal itself was concluded as unfair because the misconduct wasn’t severe enough to warrant Jones’s contract termination.
Andrew Willis, head of the legal department at CIPD HR-inform, claimed that even though the company had limited HR capabilities, employers should be aware of all processes: “Even small employers cannot avoid the application of the Acas code of practice on disciplinary proceedings.”
Jones was awarded a total sum of £19,017.62 but was discovered to have contributed to the dismissal by 50% – this resulted in a reduction to his compensation.
For more information and guidance on employee dismissal issues please contact Alison via email for more information.
