11:42 am, January 17, 2023
A car dealership in Lincolnshire has been ordered to pay almost £40,000 after a tribunal found it fired it’s long-serving manager via text.
Andrew Tunnicliff was fired by Baytree Car Sales in Spalding, in March of last year, following a dispute with the firm’s bosses.
It was found that 38-year-old, who had worked at the dealership since he was a teenager, was fired via a message sent hours after the disagreement.
A message sent from one of the bosses read ‘Hand keys in tomoz, u no longer work for us or my family.’, the BBC reports.
The dismissal lead to an employment tribunal, which was heard this week.
Employment Judge Richard Hutchinson heard from Baytree Car Sales that Tunnicliff had been fired for gross misconduct, following an internal investigation.
The dealership also claimed that Tunnicliff had signed cheques on behalf of the firm’s former owner, who had died.
However, the tribunal later heard that this had never previously been raised as an issue.
In his own evidence, the claimant said he had never taken part in a single discussion about the allegations that led to his dismissal.
He also told the hearing that he did not receive any pay for February or March, a letter of dismissal or a P45.
In addition, he said he had found it hard to find work since his dismissal as he had only ever worked for Baytree Car Sales and has no qualifications.
As he had only ever worked at the company and doesn’t have any qualifications, he has found it difficult to get new work.
After hearing submissions from all parties, Judge Hutchinson awarded Tunnicliff £38,000, to be paid by his former employers.
That consisted of unpaid wages totalling £3,894, 12 weeks’ notice pay of £7,123, and other compensation of £27,262.
Judge Hutchinson also found that documents used to support the dealership’s case had likely been fabricated for the purposes of the tribunal.
The firm denied the allegation and disputed the verdict.
A spokesman said: ‘Baytree Car Sales disputes that Mr Tunnicliff was wrongly dismissed or that paperwork was forged for the tribunal.
‘One of the directors was unable to attend the tribunal due to other commitments, and he could have provided explanations which would have proved this.’
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