Drunk at the off-site? Female employee claims discrimination

A claim of ‘what’s good for the gander, should also be good for the goose” was recently heard in the Birmingham Employment Tribunal.

Burns v Gitpod

In Burns v Gitpod, a woman was sacked after getting drunk and allegedly falling asleep in a sauna on a work trip. Her employer dismissed her for performance issues and for having been drunk on the trip. In ongoing tribunal proceedings, she claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination.

She admitted to being drunk on the work trip but said that she had been treated differently because she was a woman. She alleged that male managers on the same trip were also drunk but received no sanction. Bringing her claims to the tribunal, Ms Burns said: “My male colleagues were drinking alcohol/drunk at the off-site but I was the only one who was dismissed… One of my male colleagues behaved in a far more damaging way for both his own reputation and for Gitpod after consuming alcohol at the off-site.”

That her dismissal was sex discriminatory hinges on an assertion that, as a woman, her drunken behaviour was viewed as setting a bad example whereas her male colleagues were lauded as “tech bros” for exactly the same behaviour. Although the case is currently ongoing and no finding has been made, the factual matrix serves as a reminder to employers to treat employees consistently and fairly when considering taking disciplinary action. Similar conduct should, unless it is able to be distinguished on coherent grounds, be treated similarly.