Employer wins employment tribunal claim following incorrect expenses claims made by an ex-employee

Defending a claim in the Employment Tribunal

An interesting case hit the news headlines last week regarding an employer’s decision to dismiss an employee for gross misconduct following an investigation into expenses claimed by the employee. Well interesting to the extent that the headlines focused on the expenses claimed (a couple of sandwiches and some coffee!) but there was more to it which is set out below.

The case is Fekete v Citibank from the Employment Tribunal.

Background

Mr Fekete was employed by Citibank for 7 years working as an analyst specialising in financial crime and travelled to the Netherlands for work. Following his return, Mr Fekete submitted an expenses claim for meals and drinks bought during his trip abroad. Mr Fekete was questioned about his claim by his manager and was asked if he had consumed all that was claimed for.

Citibank’s policy on reclaiming expenses states that meals for spouses are not recoverable from expenses.

The issue was then escalated up for further investigation and Mr Fekete was questioned about the nature of his expenses. Mr Fekete maintained the expenses claim was correct. Mr Fekete later admitted that meals claimed for were shared with his partner and disclosed that due to personal circumstances, he was on strong medication during the course of the email correspondence on the matter which impacted his responses.

Mr Fekete was dismissed for gross misconduct as a result and subsequently submitted a claim for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal.

Outcome

The Employment Judge hearing the matter confirmed a finding in favour of Citibank. In relation to Mr Fekete’s claim for wrongful dismissal, the judge accepted that whilst the original expense claim was made in error, Mr Fekete was not full and frank about the error when the issue was first raised with him.

It was acknowledged that Mr Fekete was employed in a position of trust in a global financial institution and had a number of opportunities to rectify his mistake which he failed to take advantage of.

The Employment Judge also accepted that it was reasonable for Citibank to require a commitment to honesty from its employees and so determined that Mr Fekete’s conduct was serious enough to entitle Citibank to dismiss him without notice.

In relation to Mr Fekete’s claim for unfair dismissal, the Employment Judge considered whether the decision to dismiss fell within the band of reasonable responses of a reasonable employer to which it was confirmed “I have accepted that the expense report may have been submitted in error. However, I am satisfied that a dismissal in relation to the misrepresentation allegation alone would fall within the band of a reasonable response by a reasonable employer.”

Points to note

You might be swayed either way when considering the circumstances of the case, I mean it did come down to a couple slices of bread and a bit of pasta, but this case highlights that a decision to dismiss and the seriousness of the misconduct (i.e. whether to dismiss with notice or without) will depend on the particular circumstances including the nature of the work and requirements of the employer.

If you are an employer and have specific requirements or expectations of your staff, it is important that this is clearly communicated to employees in order for any decision to subsequently make about those requirements or expectations to be reasonable.

There are a number of ways this can be done including having a policy in place which sets out  specific examples of actions that could lead to disciplinary action and matters considered as gross misconduct in your business or organisation.

In the case of Mr Fekete, there was a disciplinary procedure which set out that false claims for expenses reimbursement could lead to disciplinary action and potentially a matter for gross misconduct but more importantly he worked in a financial institution where trust is paramount. 

If you are an employer and would like more information on how to communicate your expectations, would like to amend your policies or are currently faced with a similar dilemma, please feel free to get in touch,

Likewise, if you are an employee facing or have recently faced disciplinary action and are unsure of your employer’s action, please feel free to get in touch and discuss. You can access the full judgment here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6527cf38244f8e00138e74b7/Mr_S_Fekete_v_Citibank_N._A_-_3200775_2023_-_Judgmentdocx.pdf