BMW sales manager wins claim for unfair dismissal after ‘grave mistake’

James Dent won't receive any compensation after his second claim for wrongful dismissal was not upheld

BMW sales manager wins claim for unfair dismissal after ‘grave mistake’
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The head of sales at a BMW dealer in Harrogate has won a claim for unfair dismissal but won’t receive any compensation.

James Dent was dismissed without notice in September 2022, following the sale of a car against corporate money laundering guidance.

At an employment tribunal in Leeds, the court heard how Mr Dent had been told not to release a car to customer, known in court as ‘Mr B’, over concerns that it was being sold to a re-seller. Under obligations laid out by the manufacturer’s franchise agreement, Stratstone BMW is prohibited from selling a vehicle to someone to immediately sell it on to another.

On 31 August 2022, the dealership was contacted by Durham Police concerning a so-called ‘Mr A’ who they advised was involved in criminal activity. This resulted in a review of deliveries scheduled for September 2022.

Both ‘Mr A’ and ’Mr B’ were placed on a ‘red list’, with Mr Dent told that orders paid for by a third party should be cancelled. The court heard how Mr Dent accepted that he was told that he should not release a vehicle to ’Mr B’ without authority.

When ’Mr B’ arrived to collect the car, Mr Dent told him that he could not release the car because the funds had come from a third party. However, Mr Dent amended the purchase into the third party’s name and released the vehicle to ’Mr B’.

He admitted that this was wrong, but said it had been a busy day and he had been put under pressure by ’Mr B’.

In his claim for unfair dismissal, he pointed to the fact that the regional sales director overcame a similar issue concerning a red-listed vehicle in a similar manner. The tribunal found that despite some differences between the two cases, the key difference was that although the third party who was paying for the car was present during the purchase somebody else had collected the keys.

Mr Dent had not sought approval to hand over the keys when a third party, who was not present, was paying for the car.

Employment Judge Knowles said: “The Claimant did not underestimate that he had done something seriously wrong. He described it as a wrong judgment on something that was high priority. He acknowledged that he overlooked the fact that they were not delivering the car to the paying customer.”

Mr Dent added: “I’d like to make it plain that I have not set out to deliberately contravene the company’s policy or risk myself or the company. I have made a grave mistake and I, you know, but I’ve had a busy stressful day and I’ve made a poor judgement in the heat of the moment”.

He claimed that the real reason for his dismissal was because of the risk of Stratstone BMW being known to have sold cars to third parties. In response, the company said Mr Dent was “fully aware” of the risks associated with releasing a car to ‘Mr B’ and he had “acted contrary to clear management instructions”.

It told the court that “his behaviour was wrong and that his misconduct warranted some level of disciplinary action… even dismissal”.

Judge Knowles agreed with this assessment, but the tribunal found no evidence that this was “deliberate”, so Mr Dent’s claim for unfair dismissal was upheld.

However, the Judge ruled that “he was wholly to blame for this dismissal”, so Stratstone BMW was “entitled to dismiss without notice”. Mr Dent’s complaint of wrongful dismissal was not well founded, so he received nothing in compensation.

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