A manager has lost her compensation claim against a Costa Coffee franchise after being fired amid claims she bullied staff.
Ms Sharon Kane worked at the coffee branch for 15 years from 2007 to 2022 and was employed as an area manager for five stores in Kirkintilloch, Baillieston and Cumbernauld when she was fired following a disciplinary hearing.
Ms Kane put forward a claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal and breach of contact by Patrick Dunese and Colin Wilson, directors of Coffeepots Ltd t/a Costa Coffee.
She was described as having an "erratic working relationship with the operations manager" and felt they were "reluctant to deal with concerns raised about the operational development coach".
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The report added she "considered that the operations manager was unsupportive of her and the store managers."
On October 11 2022, a grievance was raised against her by the Kirkintilloch store manager who said she felt “used in the past year” in a game to discredit the operations manager.
She also claimed Ms Kane had "been drunk on numerous occasions" including being drunk on a public team Zoom meeting.
The grievance also said Ms Kane had "demoted a member of staff in front of everyone as they were not doing the job properly".
It continued that Ms Kane had completed coffee pot checks without doing them properly and told a store manager "not to trust other senior managers".
The employment tribunal added: "The claimant had brought an HR administrator into issues and belittled him. Other members of staff from the Baillieston store had complained about the claimant’s negativity and how she demoted and stressed members of staff in particular one employee who said she could not work with the claimant again."
Ms Kane was told she was suspended pending disciplinary investigation on October 11. She was informed in the letter than there would be an investigation into:
- Bullying behaviour towards other employees.
- Undermining competent employees with undue and relentless criticism causing emotional harm.
- Isolating employees from colleagues.
- Acts of aggression and public belittling causing emotional harm and to the detriment of employee’s mental health
- Acting in a deceitful nature towards other employees at the detriment of their mental health.
- Being under the influence of alcohol while performing work duties.
- Falsification of company records.h. Creating a hostile working environment.
- Blocking career advancement unfairly.
Following the investigation, Ms Kane was brought in for a disciplinary hearing where she denied several of the allegations made.
However, it was concluded that Ms Kane had committed "acts of gross misconduct" and her contract was terminated.
In an email director Colin Wilson said: "I have decided after reviewing the evidence and her response that Sharon has committed acts of gross misconduct (as classed by the company handbook) and therefore I have decided to terminate her contract with immediate effect (obviously with your agreeance after reading my notes).
"I have attached my findings that I strongly believe that she has committed the following offences:
"1 Bullying behaviour towards Coffee Pot employees.
"2 Rude and abusive behaviour towards employees.
"3 Undermining competent employees with undue and relentless criticism creating a toxic environment and causing emotional harm.
"4 Demonstrating acts of aggression and publicly belittling an employee to the detriment of their mental health.
"5 Falsification of company records (Coffee Pot checks).
"If you need further information – please let me know.”
Ms Kane received the letter but decided not to appeal as she "considered that a decision had been predetermined and that she was unlikely to have a fair hearing".
The employment tribunal concluded that Ms Kane's claims of unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal should not be upheld, stating her "conduct was serious enough to fall within the example of gross misconduct in the disciplinary policy."
