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'Rude' shop worker loses dismissal case
A shop worker accused of
calling an Asda customer
"stupid" has lost her claim
for unfair dismissal.
Ann Graham, 62, was working
as an in-store sampler at the
store in Eastbourne when managers
accused her of being rude.
She denied the claims but her
employer, field marketing firm
CMP, dismissed her after Asda
refused to allow Mrs Graham to
return to the store and no alternative
work could be found.
At an employment tribunal in
Brighton yesterday, Mrs Graham
said the customer had
demanded to pay £2.98 for a £50
wicker picnic basket full of
wine, plates and glasses which
she had set up to promote a halfprice
wine deal.
He had become irate when
she explained the £2.98 sign on
the basket referred to the wine
on special offer and demanded
to see a manager.
Asda store manager Martyn
Gallon wrote to CMP the next
day to say he did not want Mrs
Graham to return to the store.
Although he had not investigated
the incident or questioned
her about it, he said Mrs
Graham was guilty of "gross
misconduct" and would have
been sacked if she had been an
Asda employee.
He said she was guilty of both
rudeness and leaving her
display unattended with a misleading
price label, and said he
had previously received other
complaints about Mrs Graham.
Jill Blow, CMP's regional
business manager, suspended
Mrs Graham on full pay and
started an investigation into the
claims. She decided there was
insufficient evidence to support
the allegations and the row had
been a "misunderstanding".
She contacted Asda on a number
of occasions to ask them to
reconsider their decision but the
company refused.
CMP tried to find Mrs Graham
alternative work but as the
firm had no other accounts in
the Eastbourne area and Mrs
Graham did not want to travel,
her contract was terminated.
Mrs Graham argued Asda had
not investigated the complaint
properly. She referred to discrepancies
in three statements
given by a colleague. The first
claimed Mrs Graham had called
the customer "stupid", the second
that she had said "silly" but
in the third she admitted she
had not heard her say anything
at all.
After a one-day hearing the
tribunal decided it was fair
that CMP UK Ltd had dismissed
Mrs Graham because the firm
was subject to "third party pressure"
from Asda.
Chairman Stephen Vowles
said: "They were stuck with
Asda's decision."
He said CMP had taken reasonable
steps to investigate the
claim, though it was not legally
duty-bound to establish the
truth of the allegations.
He added: "In reality the complainant's
grievance is against
Asda."
Mrs Graham said she had
wanted to make her claim
against Asda but was unable to
because she was not technically
employed by the firm.
She said: "It is unfair because
the commercial agreement
between CMP and Asda means
that I am denied the right to
challenge Asda in the way I
could if I was an Asda
employee."
She said she has lost thousands
of pounds from her
pension fund because she was
forced to start drawing it when
she lost her job.
She had planned to defer it for
another 18 months until her
husband retired.
Mrs Graham now works for
another field marketing company
as an in-store sampler at
Sainsbury's in Eastbourne.
11:18am Thursday 28th February 2008
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