A woman has been awarded more than £10,000 after suing a dental practice which wrongfully accused her of scamming money from the business.
Eileen McGurnaghan was employed by Saltire Dental Practice from 1997 until February 2015 when she was sacked for gross misconduct.
The tribunal heard the practice manager was dismissed amid accusations she paid herself holiday pay to which she was not entitled.
The claimant, who lived in Leslie at the time, denied the accusation — leading her to raise an action against the Glenrothes-based dentist, seeking compensation for unfair dismissal.
The court heard that John Coull had relinquished his directorship of the company after the General Medical Council ruled he could not hold the office as he was not registered as a dentist.
Following that, Kerry Lockhart was appointed the sole director. Later, Ms Lockhart’s husband Robert was appointed as the dental practice’s operations manager.
The tribunal heard Ms McGurnaghan carried out a request from Dr Gaill-Ann Pope to rearrange appointments to allow them to attend a meeting in January 2015.
Ms McGurnaghan added new appointment dates for a family of patients — but did not delete the previous note.
Mr Coull claimed to have instructed the claimant not to carry out that particular task prior to the incident and Mr Lockhart also said he had issued a similar order.
Mr Coull was not at the practice on the day in question, as he had been placed in police custody after an incident involving his wife, and Mr Lockhart was also absent after he travelled to the court where Mr Coull was set to appear.
On their return, Mr Lockhart examined the accounts and then suspended Ms McGurnaghan.
Following an investigation, he alleged she had paid herself holiday pay in excess of her contractual amount, stole items from the business and falsified information by moving the appointments. She was later dismissed.
Employment judge Chris Lucas ruled in favour of Ms McGurnaghan and ordered Saltire Dental Practice to pay her £10,752 for loss of earnings, saying the company had failed to follow procedure.
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