An employee's workplace prank can undermine the employer's trust and confidence in him or her, and warrant summary dismissal, as this case demonstrates.
In Pinto v Gloucestershire NHS Primary Care Trust EAT/0351/09, the EAT held that an employer acted reasonably in dismissing an employee for gross misconduct after she agreed that a final written warning should be set aside, and the allegations that led to it considered in a fresh disciplinary hearing, together with a number of new allegations of misconduct.
The employer in this case was determined to get rid of an employee who was off sick for 11 months after an accident at work for which it admitted liability, leading to a finding of unfair dismissal.
This case is a useful example for employers of how to carry out a disciplinary investigation and hearing into a violent incident, when the alleged victim or witnesses might feel intimidated.
The interesting issue for the employment tribunal to decide in this case was whether an employee who got into an argument with her employer resigned or was dismissed.