You can only be dismissed for the charge actually put to you, not a different one.
“You can only be fairly dismissed for the specific charge put to you, so pin down exactly what you are accused of.”
You can only be fairly dismissed for the specific charge put to you, so pin down exactly what you are accused of.
- Ask for the disciplinary charge in writing and check that the hearing sticks to it.
- If the final reason differs from the original charge, say so clearly at the hearing and on appeal.
- Keep every letter and note, and make sure your length of service is on the record.
The situation
An employee took a company car abroad. The car was later stopped and impounded on suspicion that alcohol and tobacco were being carried in quantities beyond personal use. The employer ran a disciplinary process and dismissed the employee. The written charge described taking the car without permission and using it to transport goods that Customs treated as excessive. The employee had long service and challenged the dismissal as unfair.
What the court found
The Court of Appeal confirmed a basic proposition that runs through both criminal and disciplinary proceedings: the charge against the person facing dismissal should be precisely framed, and the evidence should stay within the particulars given in that charge. An employee should be found guilty only of a charge that has actually been put to them. The court also confirmed that a tribunal is entitled to take an employee's length of service into account when weighing fairness. The employment tribunalAn independent court that hears disputes between employees and employers. It is free to bring a claim as a claimant, and most hearings take place in public. had been entitled to find the dismissal unfair, and that finding stood.
Strouthos v London Underground Ltd | [2004] EWCA Civ 402; [2004] IRLR 636 | Court of Appeal | 18 March 2004