Legal site Out-Law reports on some rather mean-spirited actions from a tile shop called Tile It All in Scotland:
The firing of an employee who used text messages to call in sick after his brother's death was unfair, an Edinburgh employment tribunal has ruled. An employment law specialist said the case sends a warning to bosses to enforce policies consistently.The East Lothian Courier reports that Mark Morrison worked as a sales adviser for tile shop Tile It All. When his brother died last December, Morrison sent a text message to his manager, Robert Selley, to inform him. He subsequently sent a text to say he would be off sick until after the funeral.
Morrison claims that Selley phoned and told him to bring a doctor's certificate with him on his return to work. That claim was denied by Selley. Morrison also claims that no comment was made when he returned to work and handed in his sick line, according to the newspaper.
Four days later, Morrison stayed home again. He sent text messages to his employer on five consecutive days to say that he was depressed and not coming to work.
Morrison's employer summoned him to a disciplinary hearing and subsequently dismissed him for failing to follow company procedures for reporting absences. The policy stated that absences should be notified by phone calls or sick lines sent in, according to the report.
Tribunal chair Susan O'Brien said:
"The company's complaint that text messages were not acceptable was petty, and in any event the tribunal did not believe that the claimant had been told he must not notify absence by way of text messages. Throughout these events, the local manager and Mr Selley were perfectly well aware of the reason for the claimant's absence. A modicum of common sense could have straightened all this out."
More details at Out-Law