February 11, 2011
A dinner lady has won her claim for unfair dismissal although she was only awarded compensation of £49.99 for the dismissal. Carol Hill had told a child’s parents that their daughter had been tied to a fence and whipped by other pupils whilst at school. The school had only informed the parents that there had been a skipping rope incident and did not intend to divulge the exact nature of the incident to the child’s parents. When she also told the papers about the incident, she was dismissed by the school. The tribunal ruled that the dismissal had been procedurally unfair as the school had not carried out a reasonable investigation or fair hearings before effecting the dismissal. However, it also stated that her actions did constitute gross misconduct as she was not entitled to make the confidential information public without the school’s consent. Therefore, she was only awarded a meager £49.99 in damages. The decision highlights the importance of following the correct procedure when carrying out a dismissal and also the need to adequately inform staff of the illegality of disseminating confidential information without permission.