Manager wins unfair dismissal claim for sex discrimination

A tribunal has awarded a former restaurant general manager, £32,593 after finding that he was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against because of his sex. The general manager was dismissed after a female employee reported that another employee who was related to the general manager, allegedly sexually harassed her.

Whilst off duty, the general manager responded to the employee, checked on her welfare, allowed her to leave early, contacted the deputy manager and subsequently escalated the matter to the operations manager.  He deliberately stepped back from handling the investigation because of his family relationship with the accused employee.

The company initially investigated the incident and appeared to close the matter without disciplinary action against the general manager.  Several weeks later, the company reopened the case, partly in the context of another sexual-harassment matter at a different branch.  Senior management had described his response to the allegation as “absolute negligence” and said they had “no confidence” in his managerial ability before the second investigation had properly taken place.

The tribunal found that the second investigation was “wholly inadequate”. The general manager received little notice, the allegations were vague, and relevant employees were not properly interviewed.  Most significantly, the tribunal concluded that the decision to dismiss him was “predetermined” and that the company did not have reasonable grounds for believing he had committed misconduct.

The tribunal also found sex discrimination, because female colleagues involved in the incident were not investigated or disciplined in the same way. The general manager was the only person ultimately disciplined and dismissed.

The tribunal considered that the general manager had taken reasonable steps to respond to the harassment allegation, and that the subsequent investigation and dismissal were procedurally unfair, predetermined and discriminatory.

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