I didn't mean to keep it there mate. I a quarter bottle on the previous night and in trying to hide it from the missus, just left it there and forgot about it, it's as simple as that.
It's none of your Company's business then.Did you offer up this explanation in mitigation?
I had some serious trouble with an employer 7 or 8 years ago so I'm speaking here as someone who has taken a Company to a tribunal and won.
I too was pulled in as a result of some 'snitch' going to a general manager and making allegations against myself and 4 other individuals(some of the allegations were true).I was suspended on full pay for 5 weeks pending investigation and eventually found guilty by the disciplining Manager with no other evidence than the statement the anonymous witness gave,he found me guilty on the balance of probability due to several others crumbling( no other evidence was offered against me in witness statements from 28 fellow employees).
My sanctions were outwith the remit of the Company's procedures(and the ACAS code of practice) but they went ahead and gave me them(they effectively changed their sanctions to punish me severely)Believe it or not,they could do that because the disciplinary procedure was non-contractual(most are nowadays),subject to change,and provided them some wiggle room.I'm talking a 24 month final written warning,loss of bonus for 24 months,loss of product allowance for a period of 24 months and they also decided to make the suspension non-paid(I ended up with no pay for the period I was suspended despite the fact I had 3 signed letters confirming it was paid suspension).
I wasn't in the union as the convenor had sold his soul to the Company,and I(and others) had resigned from the GMB some time previously.I represented myself in the workplace,never took a witness in with me and relied on the minutes of every meeting(if the minutes were wrong I refused to sign them).I appealed in writing(don't even consider not appealing,the judge will question why you didn't),the appeal manager upheld his colleagues decision.I considered his actions and subsequently resigned and started proceedings to take the Company to court for unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract based on lack of trust(who would trust a Company who can shift the goalposts to suit their agenda?).
They had trained Lawyers at the end of the phone at the push of a button,I had a mate who dabbled in Employment rights.
I turned up some 6 months later to a 4 day trial in the Eagle Building Glasgow with a Tesco carrier bag containing 285 pages of documents and correspondence,my mate turned up as a tribunal representative on a Yamaha Motorbike.They had a Lawyer,H.R,Managers and a top notch well known Scottish Advocate(a specialist in Employment Law,she was on £3k a day).
I absolutely wiped the floor with them and the judge had no problem in awarding me £17,000(Your claim would be far more substantial due to your time in their employment).As an added kick in the groin to my ex-employers,I contacted a friend of mine who just be
happens to be a journalist for a well known Scottish paper.... And she agreed to run a half page spread.
There's a moral to this rather long winded post...Don't let the bastards get one over you!!!
If your employment has been terminated due to the fact you had an empty vodka bottle in your coat pocket,get your head out of your backside and fight like ****.
You also need to deal with your drinking issues,I'm not being a smart arsed **** here,I'm telling you as someone who has had issues with the bevvy in years gone by and had to take them by the scruff of the neck.
If you want to P.M me,feel free,I can offer some advice on how to deal with your employers and how YOU go about making their lives a misery...