Mr. T was employed by Toll as a cashier. A passenger made a complaint that she had observed that Mr. T did not ring up every order on the till and that he put at least $20 in his pocket. Mr. T consistently denied the theft allegations and explained that he had put $80 in his pocket to go and exchange it for coins. The person who changed his money said that she had given him $60 in coins.
Toll accepted that the customer’s version of events and dismissed Mr. T for serious misconduct.
The Employment Relations Authority held that Mr. T had been unjustifiably dismissed as Toll had failed to adequately investigate the incident. When the allegation of misconduct is a grave matter such as theft, the employer has an even greater burden to conduct a full and fair investigation.
Toll started well by putting the customer’s allegations to Mr. T and his representative. It is important to inform employees what allegations are made against them so that they have the opportunity to respond. It is also wise to advise them that they can be represented at disciplinary meetings.
Toll’s investigation was unfair because it failed to follow up the explanations that Mr. T provided. One crucial discrepancy between his account and the allegations was that he changed $80 for coins, whereas the other staff member recalled it as being $60. Toll did not investigate its records to confirm the recollection of the other staff member.
Furthermore, the passenger had accused Mr. T of not ringing up small purchases. The till tape, however, clearly showed that about half of the transactions were for orders totaling less than $5. Toll’s failure to adequately consider this evidence led the Authority to the finding that it was not a fair for Toll to conclude that Mr. T had been stealing.
The Authority ordered that Mr. T be reinstated to his position and awarded him $15,000 compensation for the humiliation and emotional impact of being fired.
When faced with someone’s word against that of an employee, it is difficult not to believe the objective person’s seemingly genuine complaint, but with serious allegations it is imperative that you thoroughly conduct a full and fair investigation before taking any action.
