been dismissed !!!

[p.nut]

good evening,

ok, i've been dismissed for gross misconduct, racist remarks written on my work coat, which of course i did not write !. which was left hanging in a male locker-room. happened just before went on holiday nearly 1 month ago. came back from hols, my coat had been put in my locker just before hols. back to work and my manager asked for coat, had no problem giving the coat as i thought he knew i wouldn't do it !!( if guilty, why didn't i just dispose of the coat?, surely that would've been an admission of guilt) had meeting about week later, offered no representation, was suspended pending disciplinary. had disciplinary 2 days later with union representation, admitted was my coat,i denied the writing, and brought up a previous episode, when the same words were used in my dept, nothing ever done about previous episode. in hindsight maybe i should of created more of a fuss, the first time. but thats just me, too laid back for my own good. when i brought the previous incident up, the meeting was ajourned, and the manager handling the disciplinary wanted to make further investigations. this happened on a friday, then had final meeting on following monday. supposedly spoke to my managers but they did me no favours.(scared to rock the boat) so they sacked me after they seemed to think it was my writing !! not sure how they know this? handwriting experts? they did say that i did not deny the writing vigourously enough, not too sure what they meant by this. ask anyone who knows me.
got my appeal tomorrow, have said procedure was not followed correctly, no investigation, was presumed guilty from the start, given no chance to defend myself, felt that i'd been victimised. all this has had a bad effect on my wife, her health is suffering, even though she won't admit it !
sorry for lack of punctuation,
just after any advice really.
many thanks in advance

	What are your rights at work Follow this link to read the review of the Guide to your Rights at work, published by Lawpack

[Conniff]

Do you have the coat or the employer?

If you still have it and they uphold their decision of dismissal, you can tell them you will take it to a handwritting expert and then take them to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal and claim compensation.

	What are your rights at work Follow this link to read the review of the Guide to your Rights at work, published by Lawpack

[p.nut]

yes they still have the coat

thanks

[Conniff]

At your appeal ask for it back so you can take it to an expert and see what their reaction is.

[Gogivit]

This reminds me of an incident many years ago when someone left something in my locker that offended me. Today I could have sued for Thousands!

With the other CAG member comments I too agree that you should demand the coat back so that it can be indepentantly analised and tell your employee this. As you are innocent you certainly do not deserve this treatment!

[Sidewinder]

I agree with the above. If you didn't do it then you must fight the decision to dismiss. You say that a Union rep attended the disciplinary hearing - what are the Union doing in support of your case? You need to use any means at your disposal to defend this, and I would go so far as to suggest that a part of your appeal should be that the employer has failed to apply their duty of trust in determining the likelihood of your having committed the offence. For an allegation this serious, any investigation should be exhaustive, for whilst in law they do not have to have concrete proof that you were responsible, they should have taken all reasonable steps to establish the facts. The breach of procedure will be a secondary argument, and you must demand that you either retain possession of the coat for independent analysis, or be granted sufficient photographic images for use in any later legal action. You need the employer to know that you are not going to take this lying down - it is a slur on your character which you are not prepared to take and you believe that there are sufficient grounds to take the matter further.

[Zamzara]

How long did you work there?

[p.nut]

5 1/2 years. had appeal, no joy. manager said he was upholding previous descision. am now taking this to tribunal as feel i've nothing else to lose. they did say about getting handwriting person to look at coat, i said i was happy about this to happen. when they emptied my locker after dismissal they found a historical guide book about polish concentration camp, was a present from a polish colleague. they seemed to think owning this book is a racist act ! when meeting finished, i asked for the book back and they refused. talking to citizens advice tomorrow and will ask about their right to keep the book. to me it's stealing, see what happens tomorrow. will let you know what happens

	What are your rights at work Follow this link to read the review of the Guide to your Rights at work, published by Lawpack

[Zamzara]

Good luck with your claim, it certainly sounds like they haven't conducted a proper investigation into the circumstances. Will your Polish colleague be willing to appear as a witness?

[iceman20]

Can hand-writing expert evidence be used in employment law? I doubt that any expert evidence can be used in employment law! This also means, regarding whether it is you or not you who wrote the comments on your coat, you just don't have to admit liability.Who wrote this on your coat? I don't know,simple! and Stick to this defence always! Even if an expert witness for hand-writing can prove that it is you who did so, they cannot use such evidence in employment law.

I'm not solicitor, but i know what am talking..

Are you getting any help with employment tribunal from solicitor?

If it's too expensive for you to afford, I can give you a free hand with claim and representation.

[Zamzara]

Who says the evidence can't be used?