Wetherspoons manager wins tribunal

A long-serving Wetherspoons shift leader overturned his dismissal after a discount mishap, highlighting how policy enforcement clashes with context.

Wetherspoons manager wins tribunal after discount error

Peter Castagna-Davies, who had worked at JD Wetherspoon for 22 years, was dismissed as shift leader at the Pontlottyn pub in Abertillery, Wales after authorising a 50 percent food discount for a kitchen worker. The incident occurred on January 31 last year when he processed a discount on several items, including halloumi fries, chicken bites, and Monster drinks. At the time, internal rules allowed a single free item and one soft drink on shift, with a 50 percent discount on additional items and a 20 percent discount for food taken home. An IntelliQ fraud-detection flag flagged the transaction, and the company’s disciplinary process followed, with witnesses noting the crackdown on staff discounts following cases of staff taking food home for their families.

Minutes before the discount in question was processed, another employee had used a different manager’s till key to obtain a free meal for themselves. The disciplinary chairman said the company was pursuing a zero-tolerance policy on discounts, arguing that the incident reflected a broader pattern of abuse. Castagna-Davies contended that the error was a simple misbutton, and that he did not know the other staff member had planned to take food home. The tribunal heard that he had no prior disciplinary issues and had a clean record over 22 years of service. The dismissal, upheld on appeal, was challenged as unfair by the claimant and his witnesses. The Cardiff Employment Tribunal found that the decision to dismiss was not reasonable given the context and the level of seriousness, and that the manager responsible for the shift failed to properly weigh the facts. A remedy hearing to determine any payout has not yet taken place.

The case raises questions about how far a company should go to police a policy that is designed to curb abuse while still allowing for ordinary mistakes. A zero-tolerance stance can punish long-standing loyalty if it treats a single error as gross misconduct. Employers must balance cost controls with fair leadership, and that balance sometimes requires looking at what happened on the shift, not just at a rulebook. This ruling signals that tribunals may demand a fuller consideration of individual circumstances and the broader pattern of behaviour, especially for workers with long service. For Wetherspoons, the decision may prompt a review of how disciplinary decisions are framed, documented, and appealed, potentially affecting future cost and risk management in a sector already under cost pressures.

Highlights

Policy rules may guide behavior, but fairness still shapes trust between staff and the brands they serve.