Thread: Help with disciplinary hearing please

I was suspended 3 weeks ago pending investigation into my alleged conduct. I have just received the details of the allegations and a request for a disciplinary hearing and could do with some advice from your experience.
Having read the witness statements they are largely falsified. They contain so many obvious errors and misrepresentations of situations I don't know where to start. I was seconded to a branch office to help restructure and manage the business which was failing. The manager there had lost the confidence of the company owners and I was asked to see if I could rescue him and the business. I worked in good faith with this person for 6 months, when the owner came to the office and decided to demote the manager and asked me to manage the business in the interim whilst they decided how to proceed. Since then (over a two week period) my relationships with a lot of the office staff suffered and when I recently took a vacation, four of the staff collectively issued complaints about me including the former manager.
The statements all recount the same incidents and are clearly false and slanderous. They haven't provided any evidence, because there often isn't any. They have basically said I have said things which I would never say and have behaved in a cruel way towards them - which I haven't. People are clearly lying in the reports. I believe I can prove a lot of this but how to do you prove yourself correct, when the two other people in a situation are lying?
I am really shocked (and perhaps have been a bit naive). I can't believe anyone would write so many lies and put their name to it.
I am seeing my solicitor this afternoon but would appreciate some help and advice from you.

Similar Threads:

• Disciplinary Hearing and Occupational Health
• disciplinary hearing
• Disciplinary hearing - please advise
• Wife has a disciplinary hearing, HELP!!
• Suspended pending disciplinary hearing

I had a lot of lies told about me when i was 16.
The script of what happened written out by the company secretary was so diffrent from the things said in the room it made me cry.

I even took a union rep in with me and he lied to, because he wanted to save his own job.

Unless you can get one of these people on tape saying it's a lie it really is a case of who they think is telling the truth. Are there no tapes of the right time or someone who will speak on your behalf?

Lucky for them.... I took them to court and they paid my boyfriend £15,000 in 1988 as redundancy so long as I dropped the case.

Hello,

Thanks for the response. I kind of feel hesitant to even ask anyone else. I am not allowed to communicate with any staff so I would have to ask HR to do this. Given the false nature of the statements taken, I am not confident that anyone would speak up. I can't believe that the allegations have come from the people who complained - I thought they were my friends..... I don't know who to trust right now. It is a big life lesson for me!

I am preparing my response for the hearing now and will include some recommendations for people they should interview. I feel the writing is on the wall though and nothing I say will change their minds.

Hello,
Thanks for your response. The statements are very critical and contain what my spolicitor described as very low level back stabbing. They are trying to make out that I am some sort of tyrant in the office and have been bullying and manipulating people. My solicitor only pulled out about two allegations out of over 40 pages of statements, which he said were potentially serious and could be taken as bullying. He said the rest was petty. I had a very good working relationship with these people, particularly the office manager prior to his demotion. We socialised outside of work - we even socialised with my boss and his wife. I believe that this has started with someone else in the office who is the office manager's best friend. He has always had the ear of my boss and owner of the company for some reason and I think his word seems to carry further than a lot of people. I have an unblemished record and performance record but there was one other incident caused by the office manager's friend, where I was called into my bosses office and I felt reprimanded. Basically, this person had claimed that I was dismissive of him when he asked for help. The truth is that if he wants anything he will bully you until you drop everything and help him and I refused to do this. When my boss asked to see me, I felt as though my opinion didn't matter and so I am not so hopeful it will carry much weight in the hearing. This person threatened to leave and this seems to be the core of it all.

My solicitor told me that although the statements are clearly false and written with malicious intent, the fact is that there are 4 statements all relating to the same events and if the company wants to get rid of me, they will.

The questions you raise in your last paragraph are exactly the ones I have been asking myself. My boss stated in the meeting regarding the suspension that my work was in question and they understood and appreciated everything I had done for them. A week previous to this he was talking about my return to the UK and how I would be promoted to a Director....? It doesn't make any sense to me and has caused so much stress and anxiety that I am now on medication for the first time in my life. This isn't me at all. I suspect that they are now doing this to discredit me and stop me from working within the industry.

The truth is I do think that my boss does put popularity before profitability. This has always been the way of the business - he hires his friends and relatives into senior positions.

I feel that if they wanted me there, they should not have suspended me because it would be very difficult for me to go back now. There were no warnings, help, training - nothing. I have another team of people who report into me and they are fully supportive - they can't believe what is going on.

How about putting in a grievance against those making false allegations? They obviously don't like the fact that you have been sent in to sort things out and are retaliating.

Hi everyone, thanks for the posts - it is very helpful and comforting! I didn't think I could write my statement today and was considering giving it all up. Your posts have really helped - thank you.

Yes, the manager is one who has made the most outlandish comments. His statement is about 7 pages of really poor criticism. He often doesn't actually refer to any particular incident, just makes nasty comments or where he does, the facts are completely wrong. I was so shocked to read it. Basically there is no proof either way for a lot of these things because they did not happen and I did not say the things he said I did. The only third party evidence he has is the say so of his best friend. I can provide emails and evidence which contradicts his opinions in the statement and suggest third party witnesses to things I have said which contradict what he is saying I said or did. One of these people isn't even an employee of the company so should hopefully be neutral and feel able to speak. The other complaints are easier to handle. They generally list specific events - some of which did happen but are now being used in a misleading and negative way - for example conversations had in a joking fashion are now being used as 'evidence' of me being demeaning to someone. Anyone can see the light in which the comments were made was harmless. It is the Managers report which is the most shocking and unsubstantiated.

As for the evidence. I am going to list requests for them to review certain emails and to interview certain witnesses. The evidence they have given me isn't very damning - just a few emails which don't really say anything.
I don't believe they are actually going to follow it up though. They did follow-up one of my grievances and all they did was show my report to the person I was complaining against - he has now submitted a complaint himself, which I have to answer to. His complaint is that I failed to say hello to him in the morning and 'glared' at him one time????? They didn't interview the five witnesses to this.....

I have now found out that one of my team in the UK has put in his resignation and another is planning to follow. They are scared about what will happen to them now I am not there to protect them....I don't blame them - I think they have cause to be concerned.

Yes Tiglet, it is covered under UK legislation.

Hi there,

Yes, I should think so. The one who has put his notice in will certainly.

Three of the four complainants all have fairly obvious motives.
- One is the manager who was demoted.
- The second is his best friend, who has managed to get three people fired in the past 6 months - all of whome threatened him in some way.
- The third was clearly unhappy about two new managers coming in above her (not including me) and her conduct and performance should have led to her dismissal.
- The forth is the best friend of the third - no reason to feel insecure about her job but I know she has money troubles and may well have been easily led in this direction.
I don't think they will dismiss the manager's statement but I will bring up the motive. The most obvious thing is that I was due to get a promotion from this assignment - it would therefore make no sense for me to behave the way they say I did would it?
There are several lines in the different statements which all use the same words - which are false - so collusion is obvious to me but it is proving that to my boss. He seems to be blinded by the number of complaints versus the actual content.

Hi,

Just wanted to give you an update in case it helps anyone in a similar situation.

I submitted a lengthy statement and supporting evidence which pretty much discredited all of the claims. I attended the disciplinary hearing but it was clear that my employer didn't want to pursue it.

My boss clearly didn't believe the allegations and I don't know whether he was involved in their production but he didn't want me to pursue the disciplinary and the grievances I had raised. He gave me various options, including staying with the company but I could not work there anymore and we agreed a settlement on the basis that I would drop my grievances against the company and did not disclose anything of the compliants or my evidence against them. He gave me a glowing reference. We are still finalizing the details and it isn't nice but I am glad it is nearly over.

My employer put me through 8 weeks of hell, accusing me of the most cruel and ridiculous behaviour and causing me a great deal of stress and anxiety. My team have been very supportive throughout though, as has my previous employer letting me know that it is not about me.

I know I have more to come - my employer is known for being childish and vindictive towards former employees when they join new companies so I am fully prepared for that.

I got a lot of advice and comfort from other people's situations so hopefully mine can also be of assistance to someone else.

Hi i have just been summary dismissed for gross misconduct.
I summitted two receipts one for £8.25 and the other for £8.35 for food that i should not have claimed for, i did this in error but it was deemed that i did this knowingly and deliberately falsified company documents with a view to gaining a pecuniary advantage.
I am waiting for a letter from so i can appeal.
I have already started to write the appeal which is below please can any one offer any more help many thanks boz1

I am writing to inform you that I intent to dispute my dismissal on the following counts
1. I was not given any notice of the first informal investigation in Mr N office, I was asked to come have a chat about some receipts in the office by Mr n just as I arrived in the crews toilets. I therefore had no notice of what the meeting was about, I had asked Mr R to be present as my manager, however he was no support, in fact quite the opposite. I was therefore faced with the site operations manager, deputy site operation manger and MT manager, to say I was intimidated and scared was an understatement. At no point was it made clear to me during this time that this was in fact the first step in a disciplinary case and I feel that it is necessary to highlight at this point that Mr U had advised that the first informal investigation would remain as that and would go no further. Had I been made aware that it was part of a formal disciplinary case I would have had the opportunity to adjourn and seek further advice on this matter. Mr n has been underhand in the way he has gone about this initial meeting and subsequent to that he has been underhand in informing HR about this matter. Once HR had progressed this to a formal investigation Mr n expressed his shock to me that it had been taken this far and told me he had requested that I receive a telling off or a written warning at most which would remain on my record for six months. Mr n has said this on a number of occasions even after my second meeting with HR. This has led me to believe that either Mr Underwood is as a manager giving out false information to his team or he feels that he has made a wrong call in taking this to HR in the first place and is trying to back peddle or indeed he does not know his job and needs serious re training.
I am bemused and feel that further investigation is required into why Mr n feels that it has been necessary on this one occasion to take things to this level when on previous occasions for myself and other members of staff he has always come to us and advised that we have made an error and can not claim. With respect to that point I feel that if Mr Underwood has had to in the past point out errors for claims to several of the workforce then perhaps the Memorandum dated 05 January 2009 subject Travel related expenses and payments was really not sufficiently clear. There are a number of the team who are unsure as to what they should be claiming for and so either run the risk as I did of making a mistake or being out of pocket as they dare not submit a claim at all. Mr n is himself party to this confusion, initially we were advised by him that the nine pound overnight subsistence allowance was for if we were away overnight on another base. However it then became apparent that Mr n was processing claims for some staff when they have not been away from base over night and for town night. This led to serious confusion and a feeling of unfair treatment amongst those of us that had not been able to claim.


The action of terminating my employment with VT on the grounds of a mistake with a receipt I find unacceptable and wholly disproportionate, especially considering the fact that I have not gained financially from this.
4.) I feel that I have been unfairly treated due to mainly the position I hold as a driver. Mr N has made it plainly obvious of his distaste for all of the drivers certainly within my shift, and has shown a complete lack of understanding for VT’s ethos. As stated in the policy statement that it is necessary to promote fairness and consistency to have a formal procedure that will ensure all employees are treated fairly when dealing with issues relating to conduct. This was non the more evident than during the time that we were covering for SKIOS, two members of staff had already started their training and completed their cover when Mr n became aware of the additional financial benefits that they were receiving, his comment at the time was ’ they are earning a lot I will soon sort that’. I was due to go off on training with in 24 hours of that and low and behold I found that all of the overtime had been pulled for that particular cover, meaning that although I was still away from home doing the same job they had been doing I was getting a fraction of the benefits that they had received. I still went unlike other members of the team who pulled out at the last minute as they refused to go due to this discrepancy , I did not want to let the site and VT management down.
When I joined VT, I had some concerns and reservation over entering what is predominately an armed services oriented workforce and felt that I may be party to some exclusion having a non military background . However this has not been a problem for any of the people I have worked with it has however been a shock to be treated so differently to the aircraft technicians by the Site Operations Manager who you would assume to be above reproach.
When Mr n came into this position he made it very clear we all worked as one team and that the disharmony between different sections of the company could not continue and we must all strive for one goal. It soon became apparent that he did not believe in his own words and began to allow some members of the aircraft technicians staff to do just as they liked when the drivers were grilled over every little thing.
One prime example is a member of the technicians who continues to use work time to repair his own vehicles in the car park on site, using the company land rover and fuel to go to and collect parts from the car club and let his dogs out at home. Not only is the company paying him but he is getting paid for repairing said vehicles as well as it is a side line business for him .This has been mentioned to Mr n on several occasions not only by myself but other driver as well, to no avail if anything is ever said it is all done under the radar and everything returns to the same within a week.
There is a member of the licensed engineers team who has the whole time I have been there been excessively discriminative and belittling of the drivers, it has been noted by Mr n as “play full banter”. We are all aware I am sure when working in a predominantly male environment there will always be micky taking however the regularity and the way he puts it across actually is very demeaning and more like bullying and harassment than “banter”. Another favouritism towards a member of the non drivers is Mr n complete lack of discipline towards a team member who is in constant use of the pc at work using it to purchase music off the internet, this member of staff also spends work time washing his own vehicle. This particular team member called the Licensed Engineers ‘ Licensed Idiots’ when speaking to Mr n and other than a rye smile this provoked no further action. However another member of the staff called them ‘Licensed Grownups’ and was immediately reprimanded by way of a dressing down in the office. There is no continuity by Mr n regarding discipline other than to say that the engineering team as a whole get none.


Mr n has been spoken to by of a number of the drivers as to regards problems with shortcomings from our own manager Mr r, this was mainly concerning his inability to communicate effectively to his team about jobs that were to be undertaken and his seemingly absentmindedness over not informing us of things when he said he has. This has happened on many occasions even to the point that I personally had asked Mr R for written communication in future as the spoken word seems to be such a problem for him. Mr n attitude to this when presented with the information was ‘ well he’s your manager get on with it’ . This in my mind is not an effective resolution to an ongoing problem by some one who has said in his own words ‘ must work as one team’.
I am very disappointed in Mr R and the comments that he made during and after my initial meeting with himself, Mr Underwood and Mr Becket. I expected my manager to back me up more instead all I received from him was an explanation of how I had let him down and brought shame on the MT department. I appreciate fully the gravity of the situation I find myself in however I have bent over backwards on many occasions to help him, even when he has called me at home with very short notice to come in as he has forgotten to issue jobs and he has no one to cover, none of this has been taken into account as a loyal member of the team by him. Mr Riley is himself guilty of using works property and time to his own gain, as my manager he has in the past asked me to drive to Nottingham in the works mini bus to collect his own son’s possessions from student accommodation and take it back to his own home address. On a separate occasion he asked me to collect his son’s bike again from Nottingham and return it to his own home address. I have also been asked to collect a car part from a business address in Newark and return it to site at VT, this was for Mr R own vehicle however I was again asked to do this in works time using works vehicle and fuel. Mr R has displayed a complete lack of duty of care as my manager in supporting me, preferring instead to display an attitude of one rule for one another for another.
Both myself and other drivers have had members of the VT management team in our vehicles after annual functions. As I am sure you are aware we all become less guarded with our comments when we have consumed alcohol and they have let slip on more than one occasion that they have put alcohol down as food on receipts, basic forgery I am sure you will agree. More recently I have become aware of an incident involving an avionics engineer who was on a job off site and had booked a hotel for the night, subsequently he got the job finished early and returned home but pocketed the £100. I am at this stage not willing to name names but if you were to ask any one in the crew room they would know who I’ve been discussing this is not about revenge it is purely to highlight that workforce at every level are using different methods to gain pecuniary advantage.

I want to thank you for your time in reading this and feel that it is important for you to understand that I have not done any of this out a childish malice due to the outcome of the hearing. I have however been force into this by the poor way in which myself and other staff on site have been treated. Whilst I can appreciate it makes us sound like squabbling children, I feel this highlights perfectly how some managers are either unwilling or unable to see that changes need to be made in order for all staff to be treated with the fairness and respect on a consistent level that VT strive to achieve.