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Unfair dismissal?
Page 40
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Until December last year I was a driver at an operator based in Cheshire. During the staff Christmas party three unwanted guests gatecrashed and were asked to leave. A scuffle broke out; while trying to break it up I got punched in the face and retaliated. Another driver also got involved and the police were called.
The second driver and myself were arrested and charged with assault; I was then dismissed by the company.
I was then out of work for three months and now work as a driving consultant. The charges against myself and the other driver were recently dropped (after much delay by the CPS) as all evidence led to the gatecrasher being the aggressor.
Do I have any grounds for unfair dismissal as the other driver was kept on and I was sacked?
Steve Walmsley Warrington
Whether or not you were fairly dismissed at the time is not dependent on whether the police did or did not prosecute. but whether the statements presented to the company before its decision was enough for it to assume that your actions should be considered gross misconduct.
Unfortunately, the fact that it subsequently became clear that you were not the aggressor is not relevant. Everything will turn on what was known at the time the company dealt with you.
You do not say how long you have worked for that particular company, but you must have worked for it for more than 12 months before you can bring this type of claim for unfair dismissal.
However. what appears to be fatal to your claim is that you only have three months to bring an unfair dismissal allegation and as this occurred last Christmas. effectively you have missed the deadline.