Disciplinary Breach Of Confidentiality

Lily was not prepared for the serious consequences she faced after being asked to do a new task at work, reluctantly agreeing to it, and then innocently seeking advice on how best to do it.

A director of the company where Lily worked as a production assistant informed her she was required to be a notetaker at a disciplinary hearing for her male office manager.

It was a completely unexpected request and a task Lily had never done before.

Her manager was facing serious  allegations regarding his mistreatment of a junior employee.

Lily was aware of the case to some extent, via office gossip, as both her manager and the employee in question had been out of the business for several weeks.

The week before the hearing was due to take place, the director asked Lily to take notes at the meeting, she said she did not know how to, was assured it was a simple task, and eventually and reluctantly agreed to do it.

Worried Lily sent a text message to a long-serving and trusted female colleague to seek her advice on how to take notes at the hearing.

That message resulted in Lily being suspended from work, facing a disciplinary hearing of her own, and a fight to save her job after nearly three years’ service.

Her colleague contacted the manager to wish him luck ahead of his disciplinary hearing. He subsequently raised it as a breach of confidentiality.

Lily contacted our Employee Support Centre after attending a fact-finding meeting, which was conducted as part of the disciplinary investigation.

During the meeting she admitted sending the text, denied any misconduct or wrongdoing, said she only sought advice because she was anxious, nervous and worried about the task due to her lack of experience and because it involved her manager.

When Lily spoke to our trade union representative, who would support her throughout the disciplinary process, she explained her shock that she had been informed she could be dismissed.

His feeling was she was being treated unfairly and the action being taken was unduly harsh.

The evidence to support the allegation included screenshots of the message exchange between Lily and her colleague, along with a statement from her workmate.

In addition there was a statement from the manager alleging Lily had revealed details about the allegations he was facing, which meant he could not get a fair hearing.

The manager’s claim was easily rubbished by our trade union representative. He highlighted the text messages included no mention of the allegations, Lily had not been informed what they were, and the statement from her colleague did not support she was ever given details of the allegations.

Our trade union representative focused on and highlighted the content of the messages. They clearly captured Lily’s  worry, fear and pressure she felt under, and he said the context and mitigation this provides was important.

He told the hearing Lily fully understands the importance of confidentiality, takes it extremely seriously and simply asked a trusted colleague for general advice on how to take notes properly, because she had never done it before and was evidently feeling nervous and anxious.

Our trade union representative added that as with everything Lily does, she wanted to do the right thing and support the process professionally. He made clear what a difficult task taking official notes at a disciplinary hearing can be given the dynamics of such a meeting, especially for someone who had never done it before, and who was expected to accurately capture key points under pressure, while staying neutral and discreet, without prior experience.

He explained there was a lack of intent to breach confidentiality that occurred inadvertently due to obvious anxiety, which is different to gross misconduct which is usually intentional or careless.

The hearing was told by our trade union representative that Lily had taken appropriate learning from what at worst was a genuine mistake. He was strong in his assertion dismissal or any formal sanction for that matter would be disproportionate and unfair based on the evidence.

Lily was cleared of any wrongdoing after the hearing.