A security officer who fell asleep on his shift has been awarded just over £20,000 for unfair dismissal.
Mr Okoro worked for Bidvest Noonan as CCTV controller at the Xscape shopping centre in Milton Keynes, where one of his core duties was to monitor the CCTV from a control room.
He had been working for Bidvest Noonan for more than 16 years, with an unblemished service record, the tribunal heard.
In September 2022, a manager conducted a spot check of the site and observed that Okoro was asleep in the control room. She reported this and camera footage was reviewed, revealing that he had been asleep between 5.03am and 5.18am on the day in question.
Unfair dismissal
Unfairly dismissed TUC workers awarded £100k
Tribunal finds need for degree in redundancy selection was ageist
Okoro was invited to an investigation meeting and invited to view the footage. His response was to deny having been asleep at all. He told his managers he had been given medical advice to close his eyes and look away from the monitors to avoid dry eyes.
He also stated that he “wasn’t dozing”, and wanted to “meditate and think”.
He was then referred to occupational health for assessment, but Okoro refused for the content of the assessment to be shared with his employer.
The investigation proceeded to a formal disciplinary hearing, and Okoro was informed that falling asleep on duty was considered a matter of gross misconduct, which could lead to dismissal.
He continued to work his shifts up to the day of the hearing, at which he continued to deny he had been asleep. However, his managers concluded that the allegation was well-founded and that summary dismissal would be the appropriate sanction.
The tribunal concluded that Bidvest Noonan conducted its investigation fairly and that the belief of misconduct was genuine.
The main issue to untangle for the employment judge was whether dismissal was in the band of reasonable responses. In his judgment, Employment Judge Conley found that there were “compelling arguments” both for and against dismissal.
Ultimately whether the sanction was fair comes down to context, it ruled. “The tribunal recognises a distinction that must be drawn between, for example, deliberately leaving one’s post and sneaking off to a secluded part of the premises to take a nap at one extreme, and momentarily nodding off for a few seconds with few if any consequences at the other,” the judgment said.
“We appreciate that in this case, the claimant was asleep for rather more than a few seconds (15 minutes to be exact), but nevertheless we do find that these facts are rather closer to the less-serious end of the spectrum, principally because of the fact that his actions were involuntary not wilful, and that although there was undoubtedly the potential for there to be serious consequences caused by this incident, we have regard to the fact that the potential was limited (for the reasons previously given) and that none were caused.”
The judge also noted that Okoro had no disciplinary record in 16 years on the job.
“He fell asleep for 15 minutes at 5.03am on his sixth consecutive night shift, with no discernible consequences,” he added.
“In our judgment, whilst plainly serious, this does outweigh his many years of service and the decision to dismiss was outside the band of reasonable responses and was unfair. He should have been given a final written warning.”
In remedy, Okoro received damages of £5,140 for breach of contract in respect of notice, a basic unfair dismissal award of £5,210 and compensation for financial losses of £10,170. The tribunal also ordered Okoro to pay £4,030 costs to Bidvest Noonan.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Employee relations opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more Employee Relations jobs
