THE VERDICT - legally lost but morally won 
I only got a moral victory at the employment tribunal (ET).
The tribunal upheld the original decision of ‘gross misconduct’ reluctantly.
dinosteveus1:
From what you are saying how could it have gone against you at the Tribunal?
I should explain that the ET does not have the legal remit to change a decision by a company if it is deemed that the company, faced with the ‘evidence’ that they deemed to be right, and made a decision on, was reasonable to do so.
The company, T/A Roadrunner Training of Coventry, were faced with a truck, which, had been overfilled with oil and then subsequently had serious problems.
The company then conducted an investigation as to WHO put the oil into the vehicle and on completion of that investigation, deemed there was only one person who could have done it — ME!!
I was therefore sacked for gross misconduct.
The company ignored any evidence of WHERE the oil could have come from.
The only oil that had been available to use was a 20-litre container, which had been delivered about 6 weeks prior to the incident of 13 May 2008, and this container only had 1 gallon missing when inspected under my insistence on the disciplinary hearing of 22 May.
That missing gallon had been used by another instructor about 5 weeks prior to the incident and was easily remembered as that instructor had asked me how to remove the seal, which I did, and then to assist him with the pouring as a 20-litre is a bit awkward to pour into a 1-gallon jug.
That instructor claimed that he did use oil but only 1 litre (to fill from min to max in a truck!!) therefore leaving 3+ litres, which the company claimed I used to overfill the truck in question.
I asked at the disciplinary “where did I get the oil from?” and immediately got the reply “you must have brought your own”. I was not represented at this meeting nor did I have anyone who could be a company witness for me so when I asked for those comments to be put in the meeting minutes, guess what happened? Omitted.
This next bit is again very important. I was asked if I had put any oil into the truck and I replied NO.
Remember that this is only an ET and not a court so they cannot enforce their beliefs onto the company.
The judge also stated that although the company had followed the correct procedures, if they had been conducting the disciplinary then their decision would have been different.
I am now faced with a dilemma.
The judge has said that I am honest, GREAT, I’m happy that my honesty and integrity has been vindicated but the company did not believe me when I truthfully said that I did not put oil in the truck.
Where do I go from here??
The gross misconduct stands so I get no money and cannot even claim on my unemployment insurance but I will have a statement from the ET saying that I am credible (I assume that means honest) and the company, although legal, made an incorrect decision, which was too harsh for the ‘crime’.
- these docs are now public records - the case number is at the top of the scanned paper that I put together if anyone feels the need to request copies.