An employee who lost her job after she was accused of having sex in an ambulance has lost her claim for unfair dismissal.
Security guards caught Miss Croydon and a colleague “in a state of undress” in the back of an ambulance in the Portsmouth Football Club car park in December 2018.
Croydon was later dismissed by her employer, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, following an investigation.
An employment tribunal heard that Fratton Park security guards saw an ambulance and an unmarked car enter the car park and park next to one another. The car was later identified as Croydon’s.
The security guards saw Croydon and a male colleague enter the back of the ambulance. When they attended the vehicle they saw the occupants in a state of undress and CCTV footage later revealed that they looked to be engaging in, or about to engage in, a sexual act. The ambulance was “rocking from side-to-side quite significantly” after the security officers left.
At the time of the incident, a public blood donation bank was operating in the car park. The security guards reported the incident to the ambulance service, which launched an investigation.
Croydon had been signed off work on sick leave at the time of the incident and was told she would not be allowed to return until the investigation had concluded. The male colleague was suspended.
Gross misconduct
During a disciplinary hearing, Croydon told her employer that she had been depressed and upset at the time the alleged incident took place. She claimed she had met the male colleague by chance while waiting at traffic lights and, realising she was upset, he asked her to follow him to the car park.
She denied they had been in a state of undress or that she had ever engaged in a sexual act in the car park. She accused the security guards of lying about what they had seen in the ambulance and on CCTV footage.
The organisation dismissed her for gross misconduct. Croydon appealed the decision but was unsuccessful. The male colleague was also dismissed.
The employment tribunal found that her dismissal had been fair as it had related to her conduct, which involved inappropriate use of property; actions likely to offend patients, other employees, visitors and the general public; and conduct that had the potential to impact on the organisation’s reputation.
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Employment judge Max Craft said the organisation had conducted a reasonable investigation and that the decision to terminate her employment had been within a range of reasonable options that took into account the alleged misconduct.
