Possible court action after unfair dismissal

[Guest]

Hi. First time on here and looking for some advice. I was sacked from my work suddenly and without worning a day after my Paternity leave had ended on 17th March. I had zero warning and according to my ex boss it was a decision made based on my poor performance as a sales person. Till the day I was sacked I did not ever have any performance reviews or performance related emails/meetings. Infact on Jan 2020 I got a pay rise! I had been with the company for less than 2 years and now am taking legal advice.*
but things have changed. I forwarded performance related emails to myself before I left as proof that in fact I had hit my sales target and the reason behind my sacking was not fair at all. The ex employer has been in touch threatening me with court action as I have done this. I replied to say that the information I have is only for the purposes of my case against them and not for financial gain and will not he passed to any third parties.*
I am worried about the whole situation and their communication to me was very threatening. My solicitor said if they choose to take me to court then I need a civil lawyer to help me. But also they must be able to prove that the information I have taken has caused them financial loss. Is this correct? Do I need to take other steps before the matter goes further? Thanks*

[ULA]

Since you are taking legal advice about your termination i will not comment on that and deal with the specifics of the company information.

You state that you had zero warning in regard to your dismissal.

When did you forward the performance related emails to yourself?
Was this to a personal email account?
Where you physically on site when you sent these to yourself or did you login remotely to the network after you were dismissed?
What if any confidentiality clause was there in your contract of employment and did this refer to company information with any examples?

Sorry for all the questions but the answers to these would be useful to be able to provide a more detailed response.

[Flatmilk]

Hi. I was off site when I sent the emails to my personal email address the day after. My contract does have confidentiality agreement where it does limit me to such emails being forwarded on and its seen as gross misconduct. During my dismissal I had asked if I was entitled to legal advise and I also asked my boss to confirm my performance numbers. Both of which he denied me. I wasnt thinking clearly which is why I did it to help me with my case. I later found out I could get all that information through a subject information request**

Very worried about the whole situation*

[ULA]

Can you post up the confidentiality clause removing any personalised information so that i can read it in full. Thanks*

[Flatmilk]

Sure. Please see images

[ULA]

Thanks for posting up the clause and try not to worry.

It is clear that employee information is covered for being confidential as detailed in (a) and then in (c) it sets out who the confidential information cannot be disclosed to, which is any person, company or organisation. *So, from that sense I am struggling to see their concern as it was information about you which you sent to yourself.

The issue that is more at point is the timing of when you did this. That it was the day after you had been dismissed and you were remotely accessing the company’s network to send information to yourself. Now, it could be argued that their security is at issue here, when you had been dismissed, they should have immediately revoked all your access to the company’s computer network which they clearly did not if gained access in the normal way.

What level of confidential information did you have access to and can you prove that you did not try and download any of that data and that is was purely performance related emails that only reference you which you forwarded to your personal account?
*

[Flatmilk]

Thanks for the reply.*


They did not take my laptop on the day I was released. My access was not revoked for 48 hours at least. And they never took my ID off me either. No one in the company knew I was being sacked as there is an exist procedure they have to follow. There was no HR present either. I also asked for legal advise which I was denied saying that I only get 4 weeks pay.*

i did have access to client data but not staff or detailed financial information. I took performance related emails and company score card as well as revenue intake for our clients. I needed this to calculate my performance.*

I am more than happy for them to log into my personal computer and take a look to see but doubt that is what they will want to do.*

*

[ULA]

I would suggest that given you have replied to the initial letter just wait and see how they respond to what you have said. It will also give you an indication of how serious they are about trying to pursue this.*

Try not to worry in the meantime, it may be a scare tactic, particularly if they are concerned that they might be an employment claim. i presume this will be on some form of discriminatory grounds around it happening on your return from pat leave since you have been with the company less than 2 years.*

[Flatmilk]

Thanks. I will see what they say (if anything). I cant believe how easily a company can dismiss someone with below 2 years of service. In my case having had a pay rise 30 days prior to going on Paternity leave!!!! I also out performed my colleagues yet I was the who got let go.*

If its scare tactics its has worked but I have to continue on this road. If they do want to take me to court then I have to get help in form of a civil lawyer.....any ideas where I need to start first if that is the case?*

Thanks*

[ULA]

Firstly you may be able to get some useful help via this forum. Secondly our sister site JustBeagle.com is a comparison site of all law firms in England and wales, may be worth having a look there when and if you need to consider hiring a lawyer.*