Several months ago an individual raised a grievance against her manager; including a charge that he had made derogatory remarks about her racial group. Some of her claims were well founded but neither her nor her manager could provide any evidence either way that he had made these remarks, and we made this clear as part of the written decision.
Her manager has now resigned and raised a grievance against her – on his last day – based on the fact that she alleged in her grievance that he was racist. We have still no more evidence than we had then, but he is a very litigious charater I’m told, and so I want to be cautious about how we handle this. Nevertheless, I need to balance this with the needs of the individual against whom the grievance has been raised. Would you recommend going ahead with a hearing despite the fact that he will have left by then, as we must give 5 working days notice to her.
Many thanks
Alasdair Taylor's Answer
As the departing manager has raised a grievance, you will need to consider it consistent with both your own grievance procedure and also the ACAS Code of Practice ? see here. You will also need to make sure that you investigate fully the allegation of racism, and while that may mean that there is no new evidence uncovered, you should at least still undertake a full process of investigation.
