Bar manager sacked after blowing the whistle on colleagues taking cocaine and drinking at work wins £33k

A bar manager who was sacked over alerting her bosses to colleagues drug use and drinking on shift has been awarded over £33,080 in compensation.

Nadine Fallone reportedly ‘rocked the boat’ at Peckham Levels in south London after she told owner Preston Benson that staff were stealing booze and offering cocaine to one another.

Feeling that her concerns were going unheard, Ms Fallone sought counsel from an external HR company who dealt with Peckham Levels.

Triggering an investigation into the business by doing so, Mr Benson felt Ms Fallone was a ‘pain in his side’ and he ultimately let her go in February 2023.

Now, a Croydon employment tribunal has ruled in Ms Fallone’s favour, upholding her claims of unfair dismissal.

Preston Benson (pictured) dismissed Ms Fallone in February of last year over what he cited at the time as ‘business reasons’

The tribunal heard how Ms Fallone began working for Mr Benson in August 2022 for his Peckham Levels business.

The business consisted of a transformed multi-storey car park, which houses around 100 independent businesses, with a bar and cafe housing various events.

In December of that year, the tribunal was told that Ms Fallone noticed a number of bar staff were taking bottles of wine from the bar and appeared to be drunk as the venue hosted a World Cup watch party for the England v France clash.

Later that month, on New Year’s Eve, Ms Fallone raised further concerns with Mr Benson when she witnessed a staff member removing ‘no smoking’ signs from the bar’s terrace, a breach of its licensing rules.

Another incident occurred in January 2023 when a fellow staff member shared with her that she had been offered cocaine by a colleague at a leaving do.

Ms Fallone considered this to be a ‘serious issue’ and reported it to her line manager, who admitted that she had in fact taken cocaine with the same colleague at New Years.

As a result of this, Mr Benson arranged a staff meeting, which Ms Fallone was unable to attend. 

The former bar manager told the tribunal that after this meeting she noticed ‘a change in attitude towards her by other staff at work’ and she felt as if she was being ‘ignored’ by colleagues.

The entrance to Peckham Levels, where Ms Fallone worked as bar manager from August 2022 until her dismissal in February 2023

In the wake of this incident, Ms Fallone was removed from the company rota and despite this eventually being fixed, she was granted nine days leave in February by her doctor after citing how the debacle had impacted her mental health.

However, after informing her line manager of her absence, she was then asked to cover a shift that evening.

Ms Fallone refused and during her time off she was made aware of advertising online for a duty manager role at the business, the equivalent to her position.

Returning to work on February 16, she was dismissed for ‘business reasons’.

The tribunal was told how in the aftermath of her sacking, that Ms Fallone’s confidence was ‘knocked’ and that her mental health continued to deteriorate.

Ultimately ruling in her favour, the tribunal recognised that Ms Fallone had raised perfectly reasonable concerns with her employer, stating: ‘The use or potential use of drugs on the premises and a drug acceptance culture might lead to either unacceptable sexual or violent behaviour under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs’.

Judge Lisa Clarke went on to add in her verdict that the ‘underlying and principle reason for Mr Benson’s decision to dismiss (Ms Fallone) were the protected disclosures that she had made which, if properly acted upon, would require him to undertake a substantial reappraisal of the management and operational procedures at the Peckham Levels’.