Reasonable investigation

Case 8: The facts

Dolores Del-Rion Murrell was dismissed after it came to light that she had falsely reported to her doctor she was too ill to attend work and had been given a medical certificate. She claimed that the dismissal was unfair.

The ruling

On appeal to the EAT her employers argued that, despite a tribunal ruling that their belief in her guilt was not based on reasonable grounds and that no reasonable investigation had been carried out, the facts did not bear this out. The employer had telephoned while she was off, without making contact. They had send a recorded delivery letter which was not responded to until some days later and there was inconsistency about her replies concerning the dates when she had seen her doctor. The EAT accepted that this pointed to a fair dismissal.

Inchcape v Del-Rio Murrell EAT/1090/02