Karin Forshaw, pictured, was given the money in an envelope by an unnamed female traveller who wanted the upgrade on a flight from London to New York in March 2017. Four days later, the passenger’s personal assistant rang the airline to ask for a receipt as Ms Forshaw failed to give her one or make a note that the money had been received
A Virgin Atlantic ticket agent who was sacked for taking a a bribe of £1,000 to upgrade a passenger to Upper Class has lost a legal appeal into her dismissal.
Karin Forshaw was given the money in an envelope by an unnamed female traveller who wanted the upgrade on a flight from London to New York in March 2017.
Four days later, the passenger’s personal assistant rang the airline to ask for a receipt as Ms Forshaw failed to give her one or make a note that the money had been received.
Ms Forshaw, who was described as ‘dishonest’, at first claimed to her HR manager that no cash had changed hands and then said that the money had gone missing. An investigation was launched and she was sacked in the same month for stealing the £1,000 after ‘inconsistencies’ in her story were found.
She launched legal proceedings against Virgin in 2017. Ms Forshaw took it to an employment tribunal where she claimed wrongful dismissal and disability discrimination. The ex-ticket agent lost her case in 2020 and appealed the judgement. Now a judge has also dismissed that appeal, ruling that her case was ‘not convincing.’
Upper Class seats pictured on the flight. A passenger paid £1,000 to upgrade to this cabin
Forshaw’s original tribunal heard that she was working at the Upper Class ticket desk at Heathrow Terminal 3 in 2017 when the incident happened. She had been working for Virgin for 20 years.
The proceedings in Reading, Berkshire, heard that Forshaw issued a £999 upgrade to upper class in a ‘no-show seat’ for an unidentified female passenger flying to New York.
Although she took £1,000 in an envelope, she did not issue a receipt or make any note to record that the money had been received.
Virgin Atlantic would not have noticed the incident if the passenger’s personal assistant had not phoned and complained about the lack of receipt a few days later. The company launched an investigation into the incident, with Forshaw initially telling her HR manager that no money was exchanged.
The tribunal heard that ‘it became clear there were inconsistencies with her story.’ Forshaw then claimed she had put the money in the top shelf of the check-in desk but that the envelope then went missing.
Virgin Atlantic sacked her over the transaction. They said there were ‘inconsistencies’ with her story. Forshaw had worked at the company for 20 years and had an unblemished record
She was asked why she did not report it in the remaining four hours of her shift or the subsequent days that she worked but said she ‘panicked.’ She told her boss that she had made a ‘grave’ error by ‘leaving it unattended.’
Forshaw told them: ‘I understand the perception. When you spoke to me I didn’t know what to do…I just panicked, it was a shock to me.’
The ex-ticket agent attended a disciplinary meeting and was later sacked by Virgin investigating officer Andrew Militiadou. He said: ‘It is not credible that you misplaced that sum of money and it had then gone missing.
‘I appreciate that you have worked hard to build a good reputation at Virgin Atlantic for over 20 years and you regard yourself to be a good employee however I cannot ignore that this was a serious matter.
‘During the investigation process, you had given two different explanations.
‘This was an extremely serious case of where you were in a trusted position to handle cash.
‘My findings are that you did take the money and you have been dishonest in a) doing so initially and b) attempting to avoid dismissal by alleging that the money simply went missing.
‘This dishonesty goes to the heart of whether you can be trusted to remain in any position within the company.’
Forshaw failed to register the transaction. She initially claimed no transaction had taken place, before saying the money had gone missing
Forshaw took Virgin Atlantic to the employment tribunal after her dismissal, arguing that she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against due to her depression however her claims failed.
Employment Judge Steven Vowles ruled that her actions ‘justified’ dismissal and that, although she was disabled because she suffers depression, it did not impact her sacking.
He concluded: ‘The most compelling evidence to support the allegation of having stolen the money was [Forshaw’s] false account… that no cash had changed hands.
‘Had the passenger’s personal assistant not telephoned on March 26, 2017, to complain about the lack of a receipt, there would have been no audit trail for the £1,000 in cash, and [Forshaw] would have known that.’
At the Employment Appeal Tribunal hearing, Ms Forshaw’s lawyer had argued that the employment tribunal had failed to take into account ‘relevant matters’ including a claim that one of the witnesses who gave evidence against her during the investigation was unreliable.
However, the panel – chaired by Mr Justice Griffiths – upheld the original ruling.
It said: ‘There was no error of law in the (tribunal’s) findings of fact when dismissing claims of wrongful dismissal and disability discrimination.
‘The present case is not convincing, let alone overwhelming.’