Possible constructive dismissal ?

[Dansdad]

This is a transcript of the email sent to all employees at the surgery and photocopied and pinned up on the pharmacy wall. I've only omitted confidential data.

 

'Many staff have been asking questions about XXXXXXXXXX and why she is not at work.

 

To stop any rumours or gossip and anyone reaching the wrong conclusions I am informing you of the facts.

 

 

XXXXXXXXXX was suspended and asked to leave the building and not to return to work unless required to as part of her contracted disciplinary procedure.

 

As the GP Partners (employers) representative and her manager I will give her written notice of summary dismissal. She has been informed of her right to appeal my decision. If she decides to give me written notice of her resignation, disciplinary and appeal procedures will cease.

 

The reason for this action is her dishonesty to both XXXXXXXX and me. Honesty and trustworthiness are very important in relation to all employees. They are even more important in relation to doctors, nurses and senior managers.

 

 

Signed 23/04/08'

 

(Note that there is no reference to the fact that he said ' Come what may, you'll never work at XXXXXXXXX surgery again'

 

Any comments ?

 

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[Dansdad]

Letter hand delivered today by the prescription delivery driver at about 18.30.

 

Transcript of the main body as follows ;

 

'You were suspended on basic pay. I also informed you that if I am satisfied that the allegations are correct, I would inform you in writing that you are summarily dismissed.

 

I informed you that you had the right to invoke the appeals/grievance procedure.

 

I also said 'If you so choose you may offer your resignation in writing if you think it is in your interest, the pratice and the patients'

(This is not what he said at the time)

 

I explained that this might save you embarrassment with your colleagues and enable me to recruit a replacement nurse so that patient services would not suffer for a long period of time.

 

This letter is therefore written notification of my decision as your manager and the representative of the GP partners that you are summarily dismissed.

 

The practice reserve the right to prosecute you under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

 

The practice also reserve the right to inform the Royal College of Nursing and Midwifery council of your dishonesty.

 

You still have the right to appeall. If you wish to appeal please submit your appeal in writing to XXXXXXXXX by Friday 2nd May.

 

I have made arrangements to pay you until 30th April 2008. I will provide you with a P45 in due course.

 

Signed 25.04.08

 

 

Any comments ?

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[bed32]

Absolutely unbelievable.

 

If the RCN are providing legal assistance then they should guide you.

 

What they should tell you is at least (a) you must appeal and (b) you must raise a grievance.

 

There is no way the practice is going to be able to defend his actions in front of a tribunal so it is likely to end up being settled.

[Sidewinder]

Any comments ?

 

Plenty.

 

What a Muppet. Dishonesty? In an employment context this would normally be taken to mean an act of theft, and to inform colleagues that your wife has been dismissed for dishonesty is a misleading and potentially defamatory statement. He has failed, I note, to elaborate on precisely what act of 'dishonesty' she stands accused of.

 

The practice reserve the right to prosecute you under the Computer Misuse Act 1990'. Who the hell does he think he is? The CPS? That legislation was passed specifically to deal with hacking, and malicious misuse such as denial of service attacks and would normally involve unauthorised use of passwords etc to access the PC. Although it could be used at its lowest level for the Section 1 offence of unauthorised access to computer material, this would never be pursued on the basis that the access was enabled by the user leaving her PC open for others to see. It would appear that this statement has been fished out from a Google search to add an intimidating edge to justify his actions.

 

Was your wife offered the right to have somebody accompany her at the meeting?

 

I am glad that the RCN are seemingly taking this seriously. Your wife must keep up the pressure on them to pursue this matter, which is little more than an attempt to whitewash it and to damage your wife's good name.

[Dansdad]

Absolutely unbelievable.

 

If the RCN are providing legal assistance then they should guide you.

 

What they should tell you is at least (a) you must appeal and (b) you must raise a grievance.

 

There is no way the practice is going to be able to defend his actions in front of a tribunal so it is likely to end up being settled.

 

Yes, we've been told to let the RCN do all the running now and any meetings will be at our convenience not theirs.

[Dansdad]

Plenty.

 

What a Muppet. Dishonesty? In an employment context this would normally be taken to mean an act of theft, and to inform colleagues that your wife has been dismissed for dishonesty is a misleading and potentially defamatory statement. He has failed, I note, to elaborate on precisely what act of 'dishonesty' she stands accused of.

 

The practice reserve the right to prosecute you under the Computer Misuse Act 1990'. Who the hell does he think he is? The CPS? That legislation was passed specifically to deal with hacking, and malicious misuse such as denial of service attacks and would normally involve unauthorised use of passwords etc to access the PC. Although it could be used at its lowest level for the Section 1 offence of unauthorised access to computer material, this would never be pursued on the basis that the access was enabled by the user leaving her PC open for others to see. It would appear that this statement has been fished out from a Google search to add an intimidating edge to justify his actions.

 

Was your wife offered the right to have somebody accompany her at the meeting?

 

I am glad that the RCN are seemingly taking this seriously. Your wife must keep up the pressure on them to pursue this matter, which is little more than an attempt to whitewash it and to damage your wife's good name.

 

Apparently he has also a printed version of the email outside of the practice boundaries and in stopping her pay has failed to honour outstanding time owing and holiday pay which apparently is also illegal.

 

And my wife wasn't offered the chance of representation nor did she expect the issue to have this outcome so it came as a total shock which is why she very nearly resigned on the spot.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[Saffronflowers]

DD - I have been following your thread with interest and horror, I have not posted before as I had no constructive advice but would like to show my support in such a tough time and hope that the RCN persue this with great vigour.

 

SFx

[tiglet]

I hope your wife gets all of the help she needs.

 

if at any time she has any questions and cannot get in contact with her rep, I would suggest calling RCN Direct or accessing the website, which may answer any questions she has until she can get hold of her rep.

 

Have the RCN agreed to fund any legal costs which may arise?

 

I would certainly leave everything in the hands of her rep - it's really important that she now does and says nothing which could harm her cause.

 

Good luck!

[Dansdad]

I hope your wife gets all of the help she needs.

 

if at any time she has any questions and cannot get in contact with her rep, I would suggest calling RCN Direct or accessing the website, which may answer any questions she has until she can get hold of her rep.

 

Have the RCN agreed to fund any legal costs which may arise?

 

I would certainly leave everything in the hands of her rep - it's really important that she now does and says nothing which could harm her cause.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the good wishes, they are much appreciated.

 

Yes, the RCN are taking everything on board including legal assistance.

The local rep has given her his personal mobile number and told her to contact him at any time. He's been really helpful and supportive. Although he's at the RCN conference in Bournemouth this week, he's still taken time out to ring.

 

I'll keep the forum updated with any developments.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[tiglet]

My hubby's at congress too - he seems too busy to ring!

[Dansdad]

Apparently the RCN rep rang the practice manager today to try and smooth things over but he was intransigent. In fact he informed the rep that he was reporting my wife to the police with a view to prosecution and also to the Nursing and Midwifery Council to get her struck off the register. So not only does he want her out, he wants to destroy her career too.

 

My wife was absolutely distraught after the rep had given her the news and has gone out for 'some fresh air'. She wanted to be on her own. I just hope she's safe as she's taken the car.

 

The rep did say that the manager was an absolute prat and she made a note of the threats he made.

 

I think his tactic is to destroy my wife so that she throws the towel in and it looks like he's succeeding at the moment.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[bed32]

This guy is unbelievable.

 

Actually to some extent him trying to report this to the police would be very good for your case. I bet he couldn't even get them to give it a crime reference number, let alone investigate it.

 

What he is doing amounts to harassment, you could try reporting him to the police (but again you would be unlikely to get anywhere). You could also take civil action against him. That would probably be the approach I would take - but then I'm that sort of person:)

 

If you want to take the fight to them then you do have the option at this stage of applying for "interim relief". Your problem is that there is a very tight deadline for that (7 days) and it would be very hard to get legal representation on board and up to speed in time to take that approach.

 

However I must also sound a word of caution here. In order to fight the unfair dismissal claim, the practice has to show that they had reasonable belief that what she was accused of was true. I don't know whether they might not be able to say that at the time of dismissal he reasonably believed it to be a crime. However you can fix that in your appeal by making it clear that what she did is not a breach of the act. Once you do that they will no longer be able to pretend that they reasonably believed that it was.

[tiglet]

I'm so sorry your wife is so distressed.

 

Not at all trying to advocate other sites, but included in her RCN membership is access to the forums there - she may find some moral support there from other nurses who have been through something similar.

[Fuzzgin]

Sounds like he's not only trying to intimidate your wife but anyone else who might stand up to him. A kind of threat to anyone else at the practice who stands up to him.

 

Good luck to your wife, she (and you) have a lot to be proud of.

[tiglet]

The RCN have a lot of experience and guts - feel free to PM me if there are any problems and I'll do my best to help.

[Dansdad]

This guy is unbelievable.

 

Actually to some extent him trying to report this to the police would be very good for your case. I bet he couldn't even get them to give it a crime reference number, let alone investigate it.

 

What he is doing amounts to harassment, you could try reporting him to the police (but again you would be unlikely to get anywhere). You could also take civil action against him. That would probably be the approach I would take - but then I'm that sort of person

 

 

Absolutely spot on bed32. Brother in law is a PC and he just happened to be at work so he had a chat with some CID chappies. When they's finished laughing, they said as you did, that by threatening her with police prosecution, he was in effect guilty of harrassment.

[Sidewinder]

I hope that your wife understands that she has done absolutely nothing that she can be prosecuted for, let alone anything which the Police would be remotely interested in. I also think that any complaint to the Nursing & Midwifery Council would be treated with utter contempt. She can hold her head up and hopefully realise that she owes it to herself to see that this cowardly little man is taken down a peg or two. As others have said, he is now adding harassment to incompetence.

[Dansdad]

Deleted due to double post ! Sorry.

[Dansdad]

I'm so sorry your wife is so distressed.

 

Not at all trying to advocate other sites, but included in her RCN membership is access to the forums there - she may find some moral support there from other nurses who have been through something similar.

 

Thanks Tiglet. She was a bit better tonight when I left for work after spending a good hour sobbing her heart out. Makes you wonder if he's getting some sort of kick out of causing so much distress but probably just doesn't care.

 

I'll mention the RCN forum tomorrow as I know she's registered on the site.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[Dansdad]

Sounds like he's not only trying to intimidate your wife but anyone else who might stand up to him. A kind of threat to anyone else at the practice who stands up to him.

 

Good luck to your wife, she (and you) have a lot to be proud of.

 

If that's the aim then its working. Some of the girls from work have visited her but its all done surreptiously. And the message they are bringing is that no-one now dare speak out of turn as they've seen what happens if one does.

 

Thank you for the best wishes too.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

[Dansdad]

The RCN have a lot of experience and guts - feel free to PM me if there are any problems and I'll do my best to help.

 

Thanks, will do.

 

The letter of appeal has been faxed to the RCN regional office for vetting tonight. The lady will ring back tomorrow if ok and then it'll be in the post tomorrow, guaranteed next day delivery and registered so it doesn't 'go missing'.

[bed32]

I would have thought that you should be raising a grievance at the same time as appealing.

[Fuzzgin]

If that's the aim then its working. Some of the girls from work have visited her but its all done surreptiously. And the message they are bringing is that no-one now dare speak out of turn as they've seen what happens if one does.

 

Thank you for the best wishes too.

 

Cheers

 

Ron

 

Just wait until your wife wins. We'll see how intimidating he is then.

[Barbara Ann]

I feel so sorry that this has happened to someone from my own profession.

 

I am thinking of you both as I know how stressful this situation is.

[Dansdad]

I feel so sorry that this has happened to someone from my own profession.

 

I am thinking of you both as I know how stressful this situation is.

 

 

Thank you Barbara Ann, it really is stressing us both out. My wife hasn't eaten or slept properly since it all kicked off and is very weak both physically and mentally. I've finally persuaded her go and see the doc's to see if he can help.

 

The RCN have been absolutely brilliant and very professional. A letter of appeal is going in today (Friday) which the RCN helped to compile and they are already prepared for the ET. They are convinced of victory.

Furthemore their lawyers are on the case of the manager's threat to report her to the police under the misuse of computers act 1990. I think he's going to regret putting that in writing.

 

I suspect that the doctors haven't got a clue how much of a complete prat their manager has been so are in for a rather rude awakening. Hitting someone in their back pocket does tend to concentrate their minds somewhat I think !

 

Cheers

 

Ron