In the case of Ladrick Lemonious v Church Commissioners, the claimant was accused of sending emails in the names of other employees, two of which suggested colleagues had committed criminal offences.
Lemonious denied the allegations. The employer believed Lemonious was lying and dismissed him for gross misconduct. He claimed unfair dismissal.
An employment tribunal found Lemonious had sent the emails and the employer could have dismissed him fairly.
However, the disciplinary process was incorrect as the employer had focused on a technical issue – whether the emails had been sent from a specific terminal, rather than who was at the terminal.
Lemonious’ claim succeeded but the tribunal ruled he would not receive compensation as he had lied.
For those of you who get involved in the disciplinary process make sure you follow the proceudre(s) to the letter. Go to the ACAS website (http://www.acas.org.uk) for useful guidance on what, when and how to do it.
Source: Mander, P. (2013) Sending Damaging Emails in Another Employee’s Name. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/05/16/sending-damaging-emails-in-another-employee-s-name.aspx> [Accessed: 08 June, 2013].
