A Perth sales adviser has been awarded nearly £25,000 after a judge ruled telecoms giant Sky unfairly sacked him.
David Milne, 35, successfully claimed that the company did not follow correct procedures when bosses fired him in June last year.
Four allegations had been made about his conduct, including one that he had left his stand at St John’s Shopping Centre early and failed to return.
But despite his line manager claiming to have seen CCTV of the event, it was found no one else had witnessed it, and she had not obtained written permission to watch the footage.
An employment judge found Sky’s conclusion that Mr Milne had been guilty of gross misconduct on all four of the allegations against him “is one that no reasonable employer would have reached”.
It was also ruled that Sky should have investigated whether the manager’s claims against Mr Milne were the result of a “vendetta”, off the back of Mr Milne lodging a grievance against her.
The judge did rule that some of Mr Milne’s behaviour had been a contributing factor in his dismissal, including giving incorrect information in an overtime claim, but said it was not enough to justify him being sacked.
Mr Milne, who was represented by Dundee law firm Muir, Myles and Laverty, says he believes he was treated “completely unfairly”.
He said: “I felt picked on by my own team leader at the time, who knew I was struggling with mental health.
“I had even put in official complaints against her but these were swept under the carpet.
“I was dismissed over a few alleged issues. Timekeeping was one of them, where the team leader went as far as to try and view CCTV from St John’s Shopping Centre without any prior consent.
“I, of course, challenged this and was ignored throughout my investigations.”
Company ‘kicked him when he was down’
Mr Milne, who is originally from Kirkcaldy, had worked for the company for 11 years before being dismissed.
Sky Retail Stores Limited has been ordered to pay him a total of £24,551.21.
Ryan Russell, head of employment and a partner at MML, says he is “delighted” with the outcome for Mr Milne and his family.
He said: “Sky is a massive organisation with huge resources, who completely failed their employee on this occasion.
“They knew he had been unwell and kicked him when he was down rather than supporting him.
“Nothing the team leader alleged added up and anyone looking at the conflicting versions of events would have picked up on these things.
“The decision-makers were heavily criticised for repeatedly ignoring key factors, which was no doubt to justify their position.”
Mr Russell says bosses at the firm should have shown more empathy towards Mr Milne.
He added: “I do not imagine they would like to be treated in the same way if they were in a similar position.
“Even faced with the hard evidence, they remained defensive of the position.
“Sometimes winning a case does so much more for a person than the financial compensation and this is one such case.”
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