Bellway has been ordered to unfairly fine an employee who tried to resell an old showhouse sofa she bought through a charity auction run by the company.
Karen Bushrod was a part-time salesperson at Bellway’s office in Corsham, Wiltshire, but left the housebuilder in October 2021 after being given written notice.
An employment tribunal ruled against his unfair dismissal claims last year, but only published details of the case and reasons for the judgment on 20 September.
In July 2021, Bushrod bought a sofa for £85 which did not sell following an internal show house furniture auction.
She then put the sofa up for sale on Facebook Marketplace and was contacted by a potential buyer, named in court proceedings as “Mrs Clark”. Bushrod took Clark home from the show to see the sofa, on a Sunday when the place was closed.
The sale did not go ahead, with messages between the two suggesting the sofa was sold to someone else. This led to Clark suggesting to Bushrod that she had been scammed, and Bushrod blocked Clark on Facebook.
Clark emailed Bellway to complain, calling Bushrod a “rude woman” and suggesting Bellway could handle the matter internally.
Bellway launched an investigation and later said it was concerned Bushrod’s actions were a breach of health and safety regulations, misused company property and could cause damage to the company’s reputation. company
After a preliminary investigation, the matter was taken to a disciplinary hearing, which was handled by the division’s finance director, Iwan Roberts.
The sentencing document said Roberts was “surprised” by the number of items Bushrod had purchased at the staff auctions, noting that she had purchased eight sofas, four beds and nine table sets. He did not believe they were all bought for their own use and argued that selling items was “against the spirit of a charity auction”. Roberts issued him a final written warning.
After Bushrod lost an appeal to overturn the warning, she submitted a sick note saying she was unfit for work due to “anxiety and stress”. He submitted his resignation two months later.
Bushrod took his case to the employment tribunal, alleging that the incident amounted to constructive dismissal, whereby an employee resigns as a result of the employer’s creation of a hostile work environment. She also argued that she had been treated less favorably because she was a part-time worker, in relation to the requirement to work flexibly in all places.
But an employment tribunal ruled in favor of Bellway and dismissed Bushrod’s claims.
“In the circumstances where a proportionate disciplinary sanction was imposed after a fair process conducted in accordance with the procedures, we do not find that the implied term of trust and confidence was breached by the fact that the plaintiff was not in accordance with the findings,” the judge said. said Le Grys.
“For these reasons, we do not find that the claimant was constructively dismissed, and the claim must therefore fail.”
