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In Roberts v GB Oils Ltd UKEAT/0177/13/DM, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") considered the extent to which an employer can refuse an employee's choice of colleague or trade union official at a disciplinary or grievance hearing.
Mr Roberts was employed as an oil tanker driver by GB Oils Ltd ("GB"). Following a disciplinary process he was dismissed for gross misconduct over allegations that he was responsible for contaminated deliveries. GB rejected his first choice of companion to the disciplinary hearing (a trade union official) because of an ongoing dispute between GB and the trade union official. Mr Roberts claimed this was a breach his legal right to be accompanied to his disciplinary hearing by a colleague or trade union official of his choice.
The EAT agreed with Mr Roberts and held that an employer could not refuse an employee's request to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing by a colleague or trade union representative of his choice because of the identity of the companion. An employer could only refuse a request if the request itself was unreasonable. However, the EAT added that where the employee had wantonly chosen an unsuitable companion, it was open to the Tribunal to reduce the employee's compensation to nil.
This decision is unhelpful to employers as it significantly restricts their ability to reject an employee's proposed companion. However, since compensation for breach of the right to be accompanied is capped at two weeks' pay, some employers may decide to take a commercial approach to this issue.
