DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES - 26.01.2006

Why good statements are crucial

Investigation underway

A company had a fleet of cars and other vehicles which were fuelled from an on-site petrol pump. A rumour came to the attention of management that a stores supervisor was putting petrol from this pump into his own car. The internal auditors decided to conduct the investigation themselves and did not tell anyone in HR. At the conclusion of the investigation the HR manager was informed that the supervisor was to be dismissed for gross misconduct. There was seemingly a watertight case against this person in the form of statements from witnesses who had seen him putting the petrol into his car, which was absolutely forbidden.

Jumping to conclusions

There were three statements, all of which were very short and along the lines of “I saw X putting petrol from the company petrol pump into his car”. One added a registration number which had been crossed out and a different registration number substituted. The HR manager, who was an ex-policeman, recognised the number which had been crossed out as being that of the supervisor’s current car. The substituted number was his previous one which had been sold at least two years earlier. This fixed the alleged theft as having taken place at least two years ago. Needless to say a further investigation was launched during which the supervisor was suspended. When the witnesses were re-interviewed by the HR manager, they all admitted that it had been about two years previously that they had seen this happen.

How the wires crossed. When the supervisor was seen, he readily admitted that this had indeed happened. However, he said that he’d been permitted to do this by his then manager (who had since left) because he’d used his own car to deliver goods to other sites. His new manager had told him to stop it and he had done so. The case totally collapsed, as there was now no evidence that he had taken petrol since being told to stop.

Flawed investigation

The problem originated with the investigation. Those taking the statements simply set out to gain the answers they wanted by asking the witnesses the simple question “Did you see X putting petrol from the company pump into his car?” As they had done, they replied in the affirmative, this was written down and they were asked to sign it. Further questioning would have elicited more information which would have totally altered the whole situation.

Tip 1. When taking witness statements, imagine that you’re writing for an employment tribunal. This means it must be capable of coming under intense scrutiny. A good rule is to ensure that someone who knows nothing about the incident will have a very clear picture of what happened after reading the statement.

Tip 2. If it’s at all possible, have the statement taken by someone not directly involved in the allegation - that way they should approach the questioning in a more objective way.

Tip 3. Sit down with the witness and talk through his/her evidence before committing anything to paper.