As the tax year ends and summer arrives, many Watford businesses will be planning a company away-day or a summer party. What better way to celebrate a new contract or some good financial results than to treat your team to a fun day out with a few drinks and a chance to relax and unwind? Sometimes, sadly, these things can go wrong and it’s good to bear in mind the fallout from cases that have found their way into the courts.

MBNA Ltd were celebrating 20 years in the businesses with a corporate event at a local racecourse. Everyone attending had been told that normal standards of behaviour applied, that everyone was still officially at work and needed to behave accordingly. Unfortunately, during the course of the event things got out of hand between two employees, a Mr Jones and a Mr Battersby. Both had been drinking before the event and what witnesses described as a bit of ‘banter’ escalated quickly and Mr Jones punched Mr Battersby in the face. Mr Jones left the party for a nightclub whilst Mr Battersby proceeded to text him throughout the rest of the evening, threatening violent revenge.

Their manager, a Mr Horsfield, was left to sort out the mess and dragged both men in for disciplinary hearings. He fired Mr Jones, who threw the punch, for gross misconduct and gave Mr Battersby a final written warning for his threatening texts. What had started as a celebratory party then became a celebrated case in the Employment Courts. Mr Jones initially won a claim of unfair dismissal on the grounds that there had been unreasonable inconsistency in way the two men had been treated. A later employment appeals tribunal overturned that decision, ruling that undue leniency towards another employee is “neither here nor there.”

Whilst the case highlights some of the pitfalls of over exuberant corporate celebrations, business owners retain a level of discretion in law when disciplining their employees. However they will want to try and keep a lid on the banter at the summer party before things end up in court.