I'm assuming you are innocent- is that correct? Yes I am innocent You said: . What do you mean by that? some items went missing from drivers vans and they happened to stop near my address. on one occasion i was not there and the driver was returning a borrowed item to my partner. The other occasion a separate set of drivers were near my adress to see another driver who lives opposite me which they have all confirmed. Your job seems to be related mainly to paperwork, what is your job and responsibilities? Do you come into contact with appliances and what are these.? Yes i do come into contact with them but not in any situation where i could steal them. What were you accused of and why do they assume it was you? i am not too sure of what i am accused of they haven't actually said online outlined on the grounds stated in the letter which i mentioned above. i am assuming the company think these items have been taken to my home? Do you think it might be someone else? it could have been anyone there are 23+ vehicles these items could have gone on to and not recorded correctly by staff which vehicle. I t could well have been any driver but certainly had nothing to do with me. When did this alleged incident of theft take place? on two separate occasion, 2 separate crews/vehicles around 3 weeks apart. When did this meeting take place? approx 2 weeks ago When this "meeting" happened, what positions did the other 2 men hold within your work? Are they witnesses to the allegation of theft or were they just there as witnesses on behalf of the boss? Did they ask any questions and if so, what? (NB they can be brought as witnesses to the disciplinary hearing to clarify the issue about your boss's comments re the police coming to your door and any other inaccuracies in the so called report of the meeting. That way, things can be clarified and corrected. If this went to arbitration/ etc, it is similar to court, so statements need to be accurate.) they asked lots of questions eg whether i knew of any thefts, my relationships with the drivers etc. one was my manager, his manager who asked the questions and an auditor who it now seems took the poor notes. What is the date of the disciplinary hearing? Are you fit to attend that? it is tomorrow i think i am for also i could very easily stress and deteriorate i am not in a great place at the moment. What does the letter asking you to the disciplinary hearing actually say- briefly outline main points? it outlines no points only that it is alleged theft and loss of trust. it contained the minutes that were not accurate. What documents are with that letter? as above What proof do they have, do they have witnesses, why do they think it is you? You need to think clearly about why you are being accused of this. no witnesses only a tracker report from two vehicles in the vicinity of my address (a housing estate) and for not very long by all accounts. Who is conducting the disciplinary hearing? one of the big head office bosses. Have they given you written statements from other employees regarding the theft? no, they interviewed 4 drivers me and my partner i only have my notes. Have you identified someone who is competent that can accompany you to the hearing, bearing in mind your husband is out of the equation for a variety of reasons? Employees have a statutory right to be accompanied by a fellow colleague or trade union official when they are required to attend disciplinary meetings. You are not in a union so you need to decide who it is going to be. Do not attend on your own, for a whole variety of reasons but mainly, to be someone friendly in your company during a stressful process and to take note. They can prompt you to raise certain issues which you will have prepared in advance. You can take a friend. You would write to your employer advising them of this. No i do not i think i will go it alone i am determined to see this through. You have a copy of their disciplinary policy, is that correct?. In your opinion, have they followed it? If not, why not? yes i do. no i do not believe they have they followed it they took notes when i was not told it was a investigation which is the only situation in which they can do so. Is this a big or small business? a big business. I will be going to the doctors tomorrow due to the health impact on me. i have never been in trouble and am a very honest law abiding person ho really thought she was doing a good job building a life and career for myself - how foolish i have been. Thanks for all your advise i really appreciate it

I have been suspended from work under allegations of theft although I haven't actually been seen doing anything wrong. I was lured to my work place under false pretences . I was telephoned my manager asking if I could come and do him a “huge favour” as he couldn’t locate vital information for the internal audit “because you’re a star and you will find everything much quicker”. When I got there I was called into the office alone, with 3 men, the door was closed behind me. I was then told by The operation manager that he needed to ask me a few questions regarding missing appliances. As I thought I would be finding paperwork not being interrogated I found this a very uncomfortable situation to be put in and being a lone female in a closed room with 3 men found this scenario to be highly intimidating and confrontational. At no point was I given the opportunity to have someone accompany me (an un-biased 3rd party) and felt the way this was conducted was extremely one sided. During the meeting I asked my manager why he had lied about his reasons for me attending the depot to which he replied “Well we couldn’t tell you the real reason we wanted you here, Could we?” This statement leads me to believe that he intentionally set out to deceive me. During the ‘meeting’ I was told by the operations manager that I was not being accused of anything but he wished to eliminate me from enquiries. I was then subsequently suspended on full pay with no guidelines given to me as to what this would entail on the day leaving me in a state of stress, confusion and panic as I had no idea of what the future proceedings would be. The operations manager made a statement to me at the close of the ‘meeting’, “If I was you I would be expecting the police at your door” which I feel was a threatening statement and bared no relevance to what he was attempting to achieve, nor do I believe it was his place to make this known. His statement left me on edge and seriously concerned about the impact this ‘visit’ would have on my young children. I also believe this statement contradicted the previous one made about me not being accused. Surely If I was not being accused the police would not be coming to my home. This comment was unsurprisingly left out of the notes written. A few days later I received a letter outlining my suspension on the grounds of ‘alleged theft of company property and associated loss of trust and confidence’ which I believe to be again, a complete contradiction of the operations manager previous statement that I was not being ‘accused’. I later received a letter regarding this disciplinary hearing . In this letter I was also told that a fellow employee or trade union member could accompany me to the hearing. However in the previous letter I was told I was to have no contact with fellow employees accept my partner. As my partner is not independent from this matter I do not feel it should be him who accompanies me. As I am not part of a trade union and have never been given any instruction on how to join one, I am sure you can see this leaves me with no option other than to attend on my own, which given past experiences leaves me feeling unnerved. In the disciplinary hearing letter I was given copy of notes taken during the unscheduled ‘meeting’. Aside from a fair proportion of the notes regarding what I have said being incorrect, there are also statements missing that other people in the room made. I was at no point told notes were being taken and would be used as evidence for the hearing or forwarded to the police, which as far as I am aware is illegal without my consent or without me signing the notes to confirm their accuracy. Although it states in the company handbook that notes can be taken during an investigation and used during disciplinary, I was at no point told this was an investigation against me and therefore dispute the legitimacy of these notes. I have been isolated from my only friends (who are my colleagues), I have been left feeling worthless through no fault of my own. I have been suffering from panic attacks, loss of sleep and various illnesses which I believe to be stress induced. As an apparently ‘valued’ member of staff for over a year, who left to manage the outbase and nominated for employee of the month twice, I have been treated like a low life with no worth and have been made to feel like the most un-trusted, undesirable person ever known. Do you think I have any grounds for a case against them for the way I have been treated?