Disciplinary Investigations: What Is Reasonable?

An investigation is central to a fair disciplinary process: if you dismiss an employee for misconduct, you will risk an unfair dismissal claim if you don't carry out a reasonable investigation.

But what does a reasonable investigation look like? This was the question considered recently by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in NHS 24 v Pillar. Unusually, it was alleged that the dismissal was unfair because the investigatory report contained too much detail, rather than too little. Ms Pillar argued that her dismissal was unfair because the investigation report included details of two previous incidents of misconduct which had not led to disciplinary action.

Can a dismissal be unfair because an investigation is too wide?