Judge finds ‘genuine’ performance concerns did not justify termination, ahead of him gaining full legal rights, without proper investigation
16 October 2026
A scientist was wrongfully dismissed for gross misconduct after his employer sought to sack him before he reached two years’ service and qualified for unfair dismissal rights, a tribunal has ruled.
The south London tribunal heard that Francesco Rossi, a bioscientist at Cell Therapy Catapult, was dismissed for gross misconduct after being placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) following concerns about his attitude and ability to meet deadlines.
The company’s HR director warned that “time was of the essence” as Rossi approached two years’ service, but the tribunal found that “genuine” performance concerns did not amount to gross misconduct or justify dismissing him without contractual notice.
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On 19 July 2021 Rossi began working as a molecular biologist at Cell Therapy Catapult.
In September 2022, Rossi’s performance rating was downgraded from ‘meeting expectations’ to ‘below expectations’, particularly in managing multiple projects and communicating effectively with colleagues.
The following month, he had raised concerns about potential GDPR breaches from software the company was using for training, and he asked to be...
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