Legal Clinic · Clinic matter

The Sudden Dismissal

A six-year employee dismissed on Friday for 'gross misconduct', an appeal deadline, a settlement offer and a time limit to claim.

It is Monday, 10:00, at the employment clinic of a university law school. You are a clinic adviser, supervised by Ms Odile Fraser, who reviews your advice before it goes out. A walk-in client, Dev Rao, aged 44, has come with a dismissal letter. He was a warehouse supervisor at Calloway Distribution for six years. On Friday he was called into a meeting, told that he had taken company stock without permission, and dismissed on the spot for gross misconduct. He says that the stock was damaged goods that were being thrown away, that his manager, Kieran Holt, told him to 'bin them' and that he took two pallets of broken crockery for a community event. He has a mortgage and two children. He is angry and frightened. The company has also emailed him a settlement offer.

Who is on the call

Dev Rao, Dismissed employee, your client
Kieran Holt, His former manager
Ms Odile Fraser, Clinic supervisor
Calloway's HR manager, Sends the dismissal and the offer
A conciliation officer, Helps parties settle before a claim

The Marland Employment Act (invented): what applies in this exercise

You do not need any outside knowledge. This is the rule you must apply, and it is printed beside every step.

A dismissal is fair only if the employer had a genuine reason and followed a fair procedure: telling the employee the allegation, giving him a chance to answer, a decision by someone who has looked into it, a right to be accompanied, and a right to appeal.
Gross misconduct may justify dismissal without notice, but only after that fair process.
An employee must appeal in writing within five working days of the dismissal.
An employee must start a claim within three months of the dismissal, less one day. Before a claim, he must notify the conciliation service, which pauses the clock while it tries to help the parties settle.
A settlement agreement binds the employee only if he received independent legal advice and signed freely. It ends his right to claim.
Compensation is based on loss of earnings and other proven loss. An employee must try to find other work and keep a record of his efforts, or the award may be reduced.
A settlement should be in writing, with the amount, the reference and what each side will say.

What can be lost

Your client's position: Whether Dev's rights, income and prospects are protected.
The strength of the case: How well the evidence and the steps taken support a claim of unfair dismissal.
Your clinic's standing: Whether your advice is careful, honest and within what a clinic can do.