Pregnancy constructive dismissal

[Odog1980]

OK My G/F has had her final meeting about the meds error. They cant pin anything on her. The minutes from the previous meds meeting have been made available to her by the person who chaired the meeting today (not involved in any previous hearing). He commented that how the minutes have been recorded (by the 2 managers who have been involved all the way through) looks like they are biased towards my G/F and that questions were not asked in the investigation meeting, it was more like they were accusing my G/F outright and where others could have been held to account, it was wrong that my G/F was the only person suspended. With this evidence along with other things, we have decided to go to set the ball rolling for tribunal.

[Odog1980]

Hello,

 

My G/F has had her appeal meeting. The person who chaired the meeting just ripped into her and upset my G/F. Statements from members of staff which support my girlfriend were not used as evidence. The only evidence that was in the meeting was things that made her look at fault.

 

I cant remember if I mentioned it in earlier posts but she was dismissed after hitting the qualifing period for maternity leave / pay but in her dismissal letter which states that she will be paid for her time at work up to the dismissal date plus any holiday owed, there is no mention of maternity pay.

 

She has contacted the HR dept who told her that she needs to call her manager as they do not deal with staff issues. Do we take this as the company refusing to pay maternity?

 

Any ideas for our next move will be great if anyone can offer advice

[Matt63]

This is disappointing. Who did your g/f take with her? Was the meeting chair previously uninvolved in the case?

 

I take it your g/f appealed on the basis that she never realised that taking work home was a disciplinary offence, and that she genuinely thought it was accepted practice? Hopefully she stated that she accepted that what she did was forgetful, that part of her forgetfulness was due to her pregnancy, and that as it was a first offence that a written warning would be more appropriate.

 

How did the meeting chair respond to these issues? If he did not address them, then you have grounds to take the employer to a tribunal on the basis that the employer did not follow fair and reasonable procedures in hearing her appeal.

[RachelMD]

Time to see a solicitor specialising in employment law.

[Odog1980]

Hi Matt,

 

She appealed on the basis that she was given permission by her manager to take work home to complete, the dismissal was harsh for a first offence and she has also expressed concern that they think that she has coerced other members of staff to write statements in support.

 

The chair of the meeting as not involved in the case previously. The only issues he responded to were that my G/F's manager has denied giving anyone permission to complete work at home. My G/F's union rep explained that it has been proven that pregnat women can be forgetful. The chairs response to this was " this is not about her pregnancy" He also said the he would not have said that my G/F coerced staff members to write statements

[Odog1980]

After receiving a confirmation from the ET that the case will be looked at along with a letter that the defendant has 28 days from the date of the letter, their legal team has asked for an extension because there has been a short time lapse of receiving the documents and the deadline for submitting the ET3 (not our fault they have not submitted the information to their legal time too late). Also stated in the letter from the ET, it is mentioned that ACAS may try and resolve the issues between my girlfriend and employer but this has not happened. Do ACAS normally do this in these cases?

 

So do I take it that my girlfriends employers are trying to stall the case going forward? I cannot see how they are asking for an extension because they have been notified that this case will be going forward about a month ago. Is this a normal tactic used?

 

We have the opportunity to object to the extension. What would be the best tactic for us now? will it be frowned upon if we reject their appeal for extra time to build their case? Bearing in mind that my girlfriend has been heavilly pregnant through all this (our little bundle of joy is now with us), she has managed to do everything asked within the time limit.

 

As always all help / advice will be appreciated

[mariefab]

I wouldn't bother objecting because it's fairly common for a Tribunal to grant a 2 week extension on pretty slim grounds; so it'll only make you look awkward.

[Odog1980]

I wouldn't bother objecting because it's fairly common for a Tribunal to grant a 2 week extension on pretty slim grounds; so it'll only make you look awkward.

 

thanks for the reply. I think the solicitors will look more awkward considering they have said they have only had the paperwork for 2 days which is why they want an extension. If the companies house was in order i personally don't think they need an extra 7 days to return an ET 3 form

[mariefab]

ACAS will usually get in touch by phone, eventually, their role is to try to settle the claim before it reaches a hearing. Be a bit careful when dealing with ACAS because anything you agree, even verbally, is legally binding.

[Odog1980]

ACAS will usually get in touch by phone, eventually, their role is to try to settle the claim before it reaches a hearing. Be a bit careful when dealing with ACAS because anything you agree, even verbally, is legally binding.

 

Well the deadline is Wednesday for them to submit the form. I didn't know that anything agreed with acas was binding thanks for that. I am a bit disappointed that there has been no arbitration in the month from which we submitted the claim. We will put our case to the judge why we object to the extension at the end of the day the judge makes the decision

[mariefab]

Your choice, but try not to let it wind you up if the Judge grants it anyway. Also, don't be surprised if you see more of these sort of tactics as the claim goes on; it's par for the course really.

[Odog1980]

Just an update with another question...The ET granted the employers legal team an extension. They had to submit their ET3 by the 12.09.11 so when will we receive a copy of the ET3 form to read over? Who sends it, is it the tribunal or is it the employer?

[mariefab]

The Tribunal will send you a copy of the ET3. Usually they'll inform you of the hearing date and other Tribunal Orders; like instructions for disclosure of documents and witness statements etc. at the same time.

[Odog1980]

The Tribunal will send you a copy of the ET3. Usually they'll inform you of the hearing date and other Tribunal Orders; like instructions for disclosure of documents and witness statements etc. at the same time.

 

thanks i was not sure if the employer sent a copy to us and the tribunal

[Odog1980]

Latest...

 

We have been given a date for a tribunal and we have received a bundle from the employers legal team. All I can say it is a joke. They have absoultly nothing. They have kept in "evidence" against my girlfriend and filled the rest of the bundle with things that I can only say are nothing to do with the case. For example there is a signed form which all staff had to sign informing them of where they are allowed to smoke outside the building. The minutes from meetings are not entirely accurate and are clearly weighted against my girlfriend. They have also decided to leave out evidence which they had used before including statements from other members of staff.

 

We have sent all of our papers and evidence to our solicitor and he says that we have more than they do. We are even going to use what they used as evidence previously but have not included as it shows how incompetent they are and how people who they interviewed were not diciplined for doing similar things for which they sacked my girlfriend for.

 

We have also asked for the respondant to send us minutes of the meeting between my girlfriends former manager and the manager who interviewed her after my girlfriend raised a greivance but we have not received this. Is there anyway we can request to see anything which we thing is relevant to our case?

 

I think this is moving along quite nicely now but I still feel we need to be ready for any outcome

[Odog1980]

Hi,

 

Nearly forgot about this thread. My girl received an out of court settlement, we decided this was the best thing as we had just had our little girl. Thanks for the help people have given us.

[Matt63]

Congratulations! I had thought about your case a few days ago, thanks for letting us know.