A bar manager has been awarded nearly £10,000 after an employment tribunal found she was unfairly dismissed for checking CCTV to investigate a suspected drink spiking. Sophie Marsh, hailing from Mauchline, East Ayrshire, saw her post at Saltcoats Labour Club abruptly terminated following her efforts to assist a customer who thought her drink had been tampered with during a karaoke session.

The 40 year old was sacked without warning by the club's bosses on October 11 for allegedly breaching GDPR; however, they took no prior investigative or disciplinary measures. Last month's employment tribunal in Glasgow issued a ruling in favour of Sophie, confirming that her dismissal did not involve the necessary preliminary investigations and failed to provide her the chance to defend herself. Sophie received £9,500 as compensation for the mishandled sacking, reports the Daily Record.

In a statement to the Record, Sophie explained: "I wasn't checking the CCTV footage for my own leisure, I was checking it to see if criminal activity had taken place within the bar. A customer suspected she had been spiked and as bar manager, I had a duty of care to her as my customer. In this case, there was no criminality but what if there had been and I was sacked for simply trying to investigate this?".

When questioned about the supposed data breach during the tribunal, neither boss could deliver a concise explanation. Sophie faced backlash from the club's committee members after she had made a grievance about one of them, leading up to her dismissal. Yet, Judge E Mannion determined it wasn't solely this grievance that resulted in her sacking. Delving into the case, Judge Mannion identified the incident as a "wholescale" violation of the Acas Code of Practice and commented on the severity: "While it is appreciated that the respondent is a small organisation, I cannot think of a more egregious breach of the Acas Code of Practice than this case."

Sophie reflected on the turmoil of losing her job, saying, "Losing my job right before Christmas plunged my life into a period of stress and uncertainty." She stressed the personal toll taken on her, adding, "I already suffer from anxiety so this had a profound impact on my mental health."

But for Sophie, the tribunal was not about financial gain, it was a matter of integrity: "Taking this to tribunal wasn't about money but rather to clear my name." Lastly, Sophie expressed the importance of reputation in a tight-knit community: "Saltcoats is a small town so it is crucial people know the truth."

The individual stated: "Even after the truth coming to light and them being proved to have wrongfully dismissed me, I still haven't received even an apology from any of the people that have put me through this." A query was sent to Saltcoats Labour Club regarding the matter, but no response has been provided yet.