In the case of DHL Services Ltd v Ignatowicz, the claimant worked as a warehouse colleague. After being unsuccessful in an application for an administrative role, he raised a grievance about the recruitment process.
While the grievance was ongoing, the claimant published the grievance on Facebook and added comments criticising capitalism and the employer's decision-making process. He later made further Facebook posts which referred to colleagues and managers in a way that caused concern within the workplace.
The employer investigated the posts and dismissed the claimant for gross misconduct. The Tribunal found the dismissal to be unfair. It concluded, among other things, that the claimant had not been trained on the employer's social media policy, there was insufficient evidence that he had received the relevant policy, and there was no evidence that the posts had attracted the attention of the wider public or had a detrimental impact on DHL.
When considering remedy, the Tribunal ordered that the claimant should be reinstated in his role, but reduced his compensation by 10% for contributory conduct.
The employer appealed, arguing that the Tribunal had adopted an unduly narrow approach to contributory conduct and had erred in ordering reinstatement.
The EAT upheld the appeal on the remedy issues.
On contributory conduct, the EAT held that the Tribunal's analysis was too limited. It had focused largely on the claimant's decision to publish his...
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