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gross misconduct dismissal
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Work & Study
Hey all,
Mega problem but don't know what to do.
I arrived at work this morning and was told I was being dismissed for gross misconduct. I worked at a personal injury claims company and it was my job to talk to clients who have been injured and then satisfy the requirements of a claim to pass it onto solicitors. I was trained, taught, encouraged and shouted at to 'educate' clients in order to make their claims stronger (ie in terms of making them 'more injured' or making liability better by adjusting the client's recolation of the events)
If I told my manager I could not pass a claim because the injury or liability was not high enough to meet the thesholds i would be told to e.g. 'make the client more injuired.'
Today they sacked me for doing excatly what they have told me to do. My guess is the regulatory bodies or solicitors have discovered this is what the company does, and in order for the company to protect its reputation they have used me as a scapegoat.
I hated the job with passion, but I have worked towards a legal career all my life and now I'm terrified its all been lost because of this unethical and horrid company. As I've only worked there for 4 months I know I have no rights. I just frustrated and upset and don't know what to do
I would be glad of any advice or opinions
Mega problem but don't know what to do.
I arrived at work this morning and was told I was being dismissed for gross misconduct. I worked at a personal injury claims company and it was my job to talk to clients who have been injured and then satisfy the requirements of a claim to pass it onto solicitors. I was trained, taught, encouraged and shouted at to 'educate' clients in order to make their claims stronger (ie in terms of making them 'more injured' or making liability better by adjusting the client's recolation of the events)
If I told my manager I could not pass a claim because the injury or liability was not high enough to meet the thesholds i would be told to e.g. 'make the client more injuired.'
Today they sacked me for doing excatly what they have told me to do. My guess is the regulatory bodies or solicitors have discovered this is what the company does, and in order for the company to protect its reputation they have used me as a scapegoat.
I hated the job with passion, but I have worked towards a legal career all my life and now I'm terrified its all been lost because of this unethical and horrid company. As I've only worked there for 4 months I know I have no rights. I just frustrated and upset and don't know what to do
I would be glad of any advice or opinions
0
Comments
From what you've said, it sounds exactly like what you think; they are making you a scapegoat.
I've never worked in PI or anything like that myself, but I believe gross misconduct dismissal is a barrier to climbing the career ladder. I think a lot of jobs where you handle sensitive information, i.e. financial, legal etc are set up so people who have had severe disciplinaries are effectively barred from being recruited.
I myself would not stand for what your former employer did and I would fight them on this all the way, via an industrial tribunal. I know it's easy for me to say but I don't put up with bs from anyone, especially corporations. I haven't got a clue how industrial tribunals work so I can only suggest you go to the Citizens Advice Bureau who are brilliant at dealing with employment disputes. They helped me get redundancy money I was owed a few years back.
I think it's disgusting dismissing someone for doing what they've been trained to do, especially when they are at the beginning of their career. They just sound like a bad company generally.
I really hope you get this sorted out. I'm sure someone with better knowledge in this area will come on in the next few days to give better advice. Anyway, again I am really sorry to hear what's hapened to you. Try to stay positive and keep us posted.
It just makes it sound dodgy to me. I don't think I actually did anything wrong having had time to think about it. and the fact they are refusing to prove I did indicates to me that they might not in fact have a leg to stand on.
They are been very uncooperative, but the fact I was only there a few months means I am unlikely to ever get a satisfactory response.
I guess I'll just have to life and learn.
Join a union, they would help in times like this (too late now in this particular instance but in future jobs). Sorry to hear what happened in your job as well, totally sucks. :no:
Ever thought of employment tribunal?
Give the fuckers a taste of their own medicine.
:thumb:
Hi Lady J,
It sounds like a horrid situation, particularly so close to Christmas.
As others have said, because you were in post for less than a year, you would not be able to take your employers to an employment tribunal. However, it is definitely worth getting expert advice because having a gross dismissal on your employment history won't help you in the future and it is much better to deal with it now.
Have a read of this article:
http://www.thesite.org/workandstudy/working/workersrights/unfairdismissal
And then contact either your local Citizens Advice service, and/or ACAS, who are the independent experts for employer-employee relations. Their helpline is 08457 474747.
It's also important that your keep a record of all the conversations you've had with your employer, plus any correspondence. Although your employer doesn't have to provide a written explanation of why you were dismissed, that they failed to do so is seen as bad practice and will help with your explanation of what happened to future employers.
Your other option is to take them to court for defamation of character (libel/slander), provided they had told a third-party (ie not you or them, but another colleague or an investigator, for example) that you had been dismissed for gross misconduct, you could reasonably argue that they had defamed you. You would probably need to get legal advice before pursuing this, but even the threat of doing this could make them agree to amend the dismissal and agree you left with mutual consent.
Finally, if you know which agency was investigating the firm, you may wish to contact them to provide your side of the story.
Best wishes,
Olly
I will let you know if anything changes.
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