Employment Law: Trisha
Trisha has been employed for 3 years as a workshop receptionist by Golden Cars Ltd. A month ago Trisha made a mistake when inputting information onto a customer invoice resulting in the customer being undercharged £1,500 for rebuilding an engine. The customer has since moved away and cannot be traced. Mark was furious that Trisha’s mistake had caused such a loss to his business. Trisha previously had a clean disciplinary record. Mark asked Trisha into the office the following day and reprimanded her. He handed her a final written warning letter for gross carelessness. Last week Trisha made another arithmetical mistake which was caught in time by Mark (the error would have resulted in the customer being overcharged by 50 pence). Mark was very angry. He shouted at Trisha: “You can’t say I haven’t warned you; here is 4 weeks’ pay; I’m letting you go; I can’t keep bailing you out – I can’t afford it.” Trisha left the workshop immediately in tears. She has now sent Mark a handwritten letter saying that she is sorry about the mistake, that she would like her job back and that she will be commencing proceedings for unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal shortly.
Explain relevant legal principles and advise Mark whether or not Trisha has a valid claim for unfair dismissal. In your answer you are required to refer to the relevant legislation and case law.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (Use this as a checklist before submission)
– Clear explanation of the relevant law including case law
– Application of the law to the case study
– Good structure and clear presentation
– Relevant conclusions and recommendations
– Appropriate references and bibliography
