My dd (aged 20) has been accused of stealing at her work

[Idontknowhowtohelpher]

I posted this in the legal section here at the weekend and have received some good advice about her contacting ACAS. It was reccommended that I post here as well. Unfortunately I have to go out to work and won't be able to check replies until this evening but would be very grateful for any further advice.

My dd (aged 20) has been accused of stealing at the shop she works in. She has been suspended on full pay for four weeks and got a letter on Saturday telling her a date has been set for a formal hearing on Thursday. There was a short interview on the day of the incident and she was asked to come in a week later to answer further questions. Notes were made at each of these meetings which she saw, agreed and signed but she has not been given copies.

She has not been told who made the original allegation and got no answer when she asked about CCTV coverage. She is not in a union. She took a workmate of her own age to the second interview and is trying to arrange for her to be available for Thursday.

She assures me categorically that she has not committed any theft, and there has never been any previous concerns about her honesty. She works part time and has been there two years.

I think she has been burying her head in the sand and hoping it will all go away but suddenly it really is happening. Is there anything I can suggest to help her? Anywhere she can go for advice? Find out her rights and the best way to get this over?
I know its a stupid time to be posting but I can't sleep with worry. Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks for your advice. She is going to see CAB on Tuesday and after that we may try and see if we can get her to a solicitor.
The letter confirming the dismissal came today. She rang yesterday asking about it - I am so paranoid I wondered if her call reminded them that it needed doing.
Sorry to hear that you are going through something similar, YorkshireRose - it is just so stressful. DD was hoping to start weaning herself off the AD's she is on, but her dr is not advising it just yet. He has reduced the dosage though, which could be interesting.
Sorry not to have got back earlier, I share this computer with the rest of the family and can't get on it as much as I would like to.

How did the CAB go?

She took a written account of what has happened and a letter asking for copies of all the statements that she has never seen and notes from the meetings which she has seen but not had copies. The legal chap at CAB said it was a good letter but to keep track of time that if they don't send her the notes quickly she should send her formal appeal anyway - it would just be better if she could refer directly to the proceedings.
The letter confirming the dismissal contained a reference to evidence that she doesn't remember being mentioned at all, at any time in the disciplinary proceedings!

The legal chap at CAB said realistically, it is likely that the appeal hearing will fail to overturn the decision - same as the comments on this thread. But dd wants to go through with it, so we will support her as much as we can.

Yes she should definitely see through the appeal. The fact that the dismissal letter refers to evidence that was not even raised at the disciplinary hearing is further ammunition for an unfair dismissal case.

It seems to me that the company have got no idea about fair procedures and would be ripped apart at a tribunal.

Hope your DD feels a bit better after seeing the CAB. She will get the right judgement in the end. That keeps me going , the fact that the whole issue is so ridiculous but some companies are stupid enough to try it on.

Thanks YorkshireRose. I won't start on about the company as it makes me so bitter and twisted - we weren't impressed with them before this all started and now, well.....
The hardest thing for me is that dd is an adult and responsible for herself - and I want to leap in and help her all the time. I have been very impressed by the way she is dealing with it all - she can be quite a reserved girl but her determination to do everything she can to clear her name makes me very proud of her.

Hope it goes well it will be hard work but defo worth it.

All the best to your DD, IDKHTHH. She clearly has a lot of character, it is not easy standing up to an employer in these circumstances.

She just needs to keep in mind that she has the moral high ground here and the law on her side.

And she should try picturing her old bosses wearing pink spotty underwear - they won't seem half so scary then!

My DH was once sacked for "gross misconduct" - they wanted to replace him with an old friend & couldn't do it legally so they cooked up an accusation of doing something he hadn't done, he denied it, they said he was lying & sacked him - & when it's "gross misconduct" you are entitled to no benefits, which is shit with a mortgage & kids.

He fought them, with massive help from the CAB, & eventually, after several postponements, they settled before the tribunal for almost the maximum he could have been awarded at the time. Start to finish was 4 months.

He did get another job fairly soon but it was via someone who knows him, knew the circumstances, & knew it was all fake.

Good luck to your DD, Idontknow - her bosses sound as horrible as DH's were.

"they made no reference to the info she had taken but told her of new evidence they said they had, though there was nothing in writing"

yep, ours did this several times. It's very demoralising. I think they think if they mess with your head enough you'll back off (& DH very nearly did - he was starting to believe he had actually done what they said without realising it)

I kept him going & I think your DD will need you to keep her going!

yes I know what you mean Ponders - they make the most outrageously ridiculous statements with completely straight faces and you begin to wonder if you are going mad. It is only reading the transcripts of the meetings afterwards and hearing my solicitor laugh out loud at the ridiculous statements they made that made me finally realise my employers really were talking utter rubbish and no reasonable person would ever believe them.

It's very difficult, when you are a decent person who assumes decency in others, to recognise that some people are so lacking

Sorry to hear you are also going through it, YR. There are some utter bastards out there

I know, Ponders, I feel so naive for actually trusting the word of my boss and not considering the possibility that he would lie about me to cover his own arse.

Luckily he is a very poor liar and I have enough evidence to prove my case, but I will be much more wary next time.