FACILITIES MANAGER WINS £119,000 AFTER UNFAIR DISMISSAL OVER DATING WEBSITE...

Chris Tweedie has been awarded £119,248.40 in compensation after an employment tribunal found he was unfairly dismissed from Edenbeck Ltd. The facilities management company, based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, terminated his employment on grounds of gross misconduct after alleging he had subscribed to the website Hot Cougar Dates using his work email address. The company cited four emails offering "cheap sex dates" that arrived in his work inbox, along with an account on the website that allegedly contained a photograph of Mr Tweedie with a bare shoulder, as evidence of misconduct.

Mr Tweedie had worked as a manager at Edenbeck Ltd since 2019 and held wide-ranging responsibilities at the company, which provides facilities management services including asbestos removal and management of government sites such as prisons. He was suspended in October 2024 and subsequently dismissed following an investigation. The tribunal found that the investigation had been designed to secure his dismissal from the outset, rather than to establish the facts objectively. Mr Tweedie contended that he had become caught in a power struggle between the company's two directors: Stuart Mayall, the finance director, and his son Chris Mayall, the managing director.

The tribunal concluded that the allegations relating to the dating website had likely been used as a pretext for dismissal. Mr Tweedie's case revealed that after Stuart Mayall offered him a director-level role conditional on pledging loyalty to him in July 2024, Mr Tweedie declined and began attending meetings with the son instead. This led to further misconduct allegations being added during subsequent disciplinary meetings without proper investigation. The tribunal's decision established that the company's account of events did not constitute fair grounds for dismissal.