Case Study: a specialty food distributor achieves a successful gross misconduct dismissal outcome with Beststart Human Resources

A gross misconduct disciplinary following investigation

Beststart Human Resources worked with a leading food distributor service provider that had recently merged and relocated its office, creating uncertainty around internet-use rules. After rumours that a senior sales manager was spending large amounts of working time viewing inappropriate content online, the customer needed help clarifying policy awareness and determining whether there was a disciplinary issue.

Beststart Human Resources advised the company to communicate internet-use standards to all staff, gather IT monitoring evidence, and then carried out a formal investigation, disciplinary hearing support, and appeal process separation to ensure fairness. Beststart Human Resources helped recover deleted data, review browsing history, and quantify the misuse, which showed extensive adult-content access during working hours and over 1,500 stored images; the sales manager admitted the allegations and was dismissed for gross misconduct.