Employment Law Case Update: Grievance and Investigations

Properly investigating when an employee raises a grievance against a colleague is vitally important to remedy the concern and also stay out of the tribunal.  Our Employment Law team here reviews the case of Miss P Newcombe v Machynlleth Town Council and advises employers as to how best to act to avoid a claim.

Ms Newcombe worked for the Council as a cleaner from May 2013 until her resignation in June 2019. In April 2018, she filed a grievance against a co-worker, Ms Lumley, with the new town clerk, Mr Griffiths. Mr Griffiths met with both Ms Newcombe and Ms Lumley separately and decided, without proper investigation, to only issue a verbal warning against Ms Lumley. Ms Newcombe appealed this outcome.

In June 2018, Ms Newcombe’s trade union representative contacted Mr Griffiths asking for an update on her appeal. Mr Griffiths replied that Ms Newcombe had not properly filed her appeal in writing, and that he believed her actions were now “vexatious in nature”. He also said Ms Newcombe “may fall foul of a disciplinary herself” and claimed she had posted “derogatory” posts on social media. Mr Griffiths also claimed Ms Newcombe was “notorious for throwing a sicky” and wrote a question mark next to her entry in the sign in book where she had indicated that she would be away for an hour to attend a medical appointment.

Ms Newcombe began to experience increased stress and anxiety which the Employment Tribunal (ET) said was likely caused by being accused of “throwing sickies” and gross misconduct. At a sickness absence meeting, Ms Newcombe confirmed she would be willing to go to the doctor for documentation of her illness. She also informed Mr Griffiths that she did not trust anyone at the Council and that she felt that she was perceived as a troublemaker.

Following their meeting Mr Griffiths sent a letter to Ms Newcombe’s GP, asking the doctor to explain his diagnoses of stress. He also alleged that Ms Newcombe was abusing company sick pay by “constantly being seen out in local pubs when ‘on the sick’” and that the only stress created was by “her partner potentially ‘gaslighting’ her.”

Ms Newcombe had a meeting with Occupational Health which produced a report stating she was stressed because she felt bullied by Mr Griffiths. Mediation was recommended to help her get back to work. Instead of following this advice, the Council invited Ms Newcombe to a medical capability hearing which, she was informed, could result in her dismissal for ill health.

A couple days before this meeting, Ms Newcombe’s GP informed her of Mr Griffith’s letter. She was devastated by the contents and launched a grievance against Mr Griffith. Three councillors met to deal with the grievance without conducting an investigation or asking for any information from Ms Newcombe or Mr Griffiths. While the councillors said some of Mr Griffith’s comments in the letter were “unwise” they did not find it necessary to take disciplinary action and they did not give reasons for this finding. 

The Council then tried to meet with Ms Newcombe to discuss her sickness absences but could not arrange an appropriate time to meet. In May 2019 she received a request to provide permission for access to her medical records which she considered to be the “last straw”, resigning on 3 June 2019.

The ET found that the Council’s conduct amounted to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence. Judge Powell said there had been “intentional blocking of [Ms Newcombe’s] complaints by the [Council’s] senior manager and an unwillingness to allow her to express them as a cause of her stress and anxiety”. The Council’s failure to follow OH recommendations and failure to properly investigate Ms Newcombe’s grievances indicated “disregard” for her treatment by her line manager and caused her resignation. Ms Newcombe’s claim for unfair dismissal therefore succeeded. The Council was ordered to pay Ms Newcombe £11,600 which included amounts for loss of statutory rights and loss of earnings.

This case demonstrates how failing to properly investigate an employee’s grievances can cause a breakdown in trust between the employer and employee and cause the relationship to sour. When an employee complains of bullying or mistreatment, the employer should be willing to listen to the employee and thoroughly investigate the matter. Employees should also be kept informed throughout the grievance process and given reasons if the employer decides not to uphold the grievance. 

If you have any questions regarding this article, you can call our Employment team today on 023 8071 7717 or email employment@warnergoodman.co.uk.

This was previously part of our weekly Employment Law Newsletter. If you would like to subscribe, please email us at events@warnergoodman.co.uk or just fill in our subscription form.

ENDS

This is for information purposes only and is no substitute for, and should not be interpreted as, legal advice.  All content was correct at the time of publishing and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that may invalidate this article.