HMRC boss fired after tracking employee on Greggs break wins unfair dismissal case

HMRC boss fired after tracking employee on Greggs break wins unfair dismissal case Going to Greggs was an activity ‘outside the intended purpose’ of a work break, Ka Wong claimed - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in An HMRC manager who was sacked after monitoring a staff member taking trips to Greggs during her break has won an unfair dismissal claim. Ka Wong alienated his team upon taking over as their new manager by introducing a "zealous" approach, which differed sharply from that of their former "laid back" boss. An employment tribunal was told that he "was a robust, no-nonsense manager who closely monitored his team and held them to account". Mr Wong suspected an HMRC worker was abusing her breaks, and found evidence that she was going to Greggs, the hearing was told. However, staff members lodged grievances after finding his oversight excessive, with the tribunal hearing "his management style to a large degree prompted complaints against him", including accusations of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying. An internal investigation initially recommended that Mr Wong receive a warning over the allegations, half of which were rejected. However, the outcome was altered at the last minute to dismiss him without an adequate explanation as to why. He has now won his wrongful dismissal case at an employment tribunal in Manchester. The tribunal heard that: "Mr Wong became an employee of [HMRC] on July 5, 2021. He was employed as a Customer Service Manager. In this role he managed a team of Customer Service Advisers. "On or about April 24, 2023, [Mr Wong] took responsibility for a team of advisers who were transferred to him from a different manager. "By this time [Mr Wong] had been a manager with [HMRC] for a little under two years. He had managed other teams of advisers without being the subject of complaints. "Mr Wong’s new team members had previously worked under... a manager who had been more relaxed or laid back in his approach to managing his team, and this included adherence to flexi-time policy and the taking of leave. "Mr Wong’s management style was quite different ... and it was his management style which to a large degree prompted the complaints against him." On July 14, 2023, less than three months after he assumed the management position, six employees got together and raised a grievance against him. Four employees complained he bullied them, one accused him of discrimination and two complained of sexual harassment. Mobeen Mahmood had complained that he had monitored her breaks and said that this constituted bullying. Mr Wong said he had evidence that "Ms Mohammed was using breaks to move her car and to go to Greggs, which were activities outside the intended purpose of such break". Other spurious claims against him was that he had shown an employee a video of a seagull eating a rat as a part of a bullying campaign. Sexual harassment complaints focused on the manager being "touchy feely" with his staff and "looking them up and down". One employee in the course of the grievance investigation even withdrew his complaint against Mr Wong. The employee said he believed there was doubt over the veracity of his own testimony and that of others, and the tribunal case should be thrown on the scrap heap'. He ended up saying he believed that the joint complaint against Mr Wong was the result of "manipulation" by two of the complaining employees. However this employee was not interviewed about his beliefs during the investigation despite the "clear line of questioning" his disclosure opened. The investigation concluded but its report was of "poor quality" and "devoid of cogent reasoning". It favoured the complaining employees' versions of events without explaining why and the investigation against Mr Wong was taken to the disciplinary stage in November of 2023. Half of the allegations against Mr Wong were dropped during the disciplinary investigation, which included the sexual harassment, discrimination and monitoring his employee going to Greggs. William Pettigrew, the deciding manager, found the misconduct was not so serious as to warrant dismissal and two drafts dated at the start of December state that the sanction against Mr Wong would be a final written warning. However when it came to a final letter to the manager on 4 December, the decision had been completely changed. Mr Pettigrew had called Employer Alignment Submission (EAS), a body responsible for managing staff records at HMRC, in between writing the second draft and the final outcome. A sexual harassment allegation had been found proved for no apparent reason when there had been no evidence for it just days before, as well as bullying allegations being "globally" accepted without reason. Mr Wong was therefore dismissed for gross misconduct. He appealed but the decision was upheld so he took HMRC to an Employment Tribunal. He successfully complained for wrongful dismissal. Employment Judge Callum Cowx concluded: "Based on the evidence in this case it is clear that Mr Wong was a zealous, sometimes blunt, no-nonsense manager, who would have benefitted from some sort of constructive management intervention and guidance. "The way he performed his management role set in motion a chain of events which led to his dismissal. "Had [HMRC] handled the complaints made against Mr Wong in a fair and competent manner, the outcome would have been quite different... "On the evidence provided to me I conclude that any provable wrongdoing on Mr Wong’s part was at the lower end of the spectrum which could have been dealt with informally or by a formal warning of some kind." The judge added: "Anything in the final decision notice which has the appearance of reasons for finding Mr Wong guilty of the alleged misconduct was the product of a concerted effort to disguise the fact that the case against Mr Wong, so far as guilt was concerned, was predetermined and that EAS had stripped Mr Pettigrew of his legitimate powers as the decision manager." Mr Wong will be awarded compensation at a later date. Further claims of direct sexual orientation discrimination and sexual orientation harassment failed. [Image text:] GREGGS OW THAT'S ASTY Hot Southern Fried Chicken Baguette ACEARKTAET ASY TURNIG eakfast Available