Union wins £20,000 for a sub that company failed to help and sacked
THE FORMER chief sub of the Hartlepool Mail has won a case for unfair dismissal and compensation of more than £20,000 for being sacked in a case that highlights the importance of employers sticking to their alcohol and drugs policies.
Paul Gray had worked for the paper for 14 years with a clean disciplinary record but was sacked for gross misconduct over text messages sent to a junior female colleague late at night while he was on holiday and had been drinking.
The woman concerned did not complain, saying that she shared vulgar jokes with him and that this sort of banter had been going on in the office for years, with no action taken by managers to stop it.
The employment tribunal described the Hartlepool newsroom as “a vibrant place” where there was a “high level of banter between employees”. This banter was “frequently sexual in nature and often vulgar”. The office was open plan so management was aware of it.
The company also said Paul Gray was guilty of “a threat of violence towards people” after an incident in a supermarket in which he was refused the sale of alcohol and made to leave, again when he was on holiday. The supermarket company made no complaint.
The tribunal ruled that managers at the Johnston Press-owned daily ignored its own policy on alcohol and drugs “in circumstances where there were clear procedures to follow”.
It concluded that, had the policy been followed, Paul Gray, a self-confessed alcoholic, would not have been dismissed. Instead he would instead have had the opportunity for treatment.
Managers said they were not aware he was an alcoholic until the disciplinary hearing, a claim the tribunal said was “incredible”; the then editor, Paul Napier, had put a note on Paul Gray’s personnel file about his conduct and standard of work.
And when he stated his addiction during his disciplinary hearing this was ignored by managers who said he was “trying to save himself”.
The tribunal concluded: “No reasonable employer would suddenly have dismissed an employee [for the text messages] having previously condoned sexual banter and failed to act on it in the past.”
It awarded Paul Gray 12 months’ pay in compensation, adding that his recovery from alcoholism had been hampered by his dismissal and that he would find it hard to find alternative employment.
The NUJ backed his case and North of England Organiser Chris Morley said: “This was never going to be an easy case but we are determined that employers understand the importance of not just having alcohol and drugs policies but properly implementing them. If the company had done that Paul would still have a job. As it is, it simply abandoned and sacked him, leaving him to pick himself up.”