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A hotel manager who was fired for playing loud music and allegedly having sex with a colleague in one of the rooms has won an unfair dismissal claim.
Sebastian Kedracki was sacked after drinking and partying with a colleague and then spending the night in a room at the Club Quarters Hotel in central London without permission.
An employment tribunal heard that on 29 December 2022, a colleague caught Mr Kedracki and the female colleague “dancing around” to music “like a disco club with the volume on maximum” in one of the hotel’s offices.
The colleague claimed the doors to the office were “double-locked”, but he could see the pair dancing with the lights off with “several bottles of alcohol around”. The pair later moved to one of the guest rooms.
Around 3am, one guest staying at the hotel in Covent Garden complained that she could hear “loud music” and her husband couldn't sleep, the tribunal heard.
After the complaint, colleagues used a master key to enter the hotel room and saw Mr Kedracki and the female colleague having a shower together.
In a statement to the tribunal, one of the colleagues said he saw the pair “having sex”. Mr Kedracki did not challenge this claim when cross-examined during the tribunal.
The senior employee was suspended for the incident and underwent a disciplinary process, which resulted in his dismissal.
Mr Kedracki began working at the Club Quarters Hotel in 2013, according to the central London tribunal. The property is close to the British Museum and the Royal Opera House.
The tribunal also heard evidence from the female colleague, who was identified only as “AB”. She said she had seen Mr Kedracki in the office working late and tried to help him.
She said there were difficulties with getting home because of issues with the train, and she was struggling to get a taxi. The pair then decided to have a drink together.
She said she was “embarrassed” to find herself in this situation and apologised for staying in the hotel without permission.
Mr Kedracki claimed the dismissal was an “outrageous witch hunt based on inadequate evidence” and took the company that owns the hotel, Kingsway LIF Holdings Ltd, to an employment tribunal.
His claims of unfair dismissal were upheld by Employment Judge Adkin due to faults in the hotel’s investigation.
Mr Atkin said the hotel did not follow the correct disciplinary process guidance because they used the same employee as the investigator and disciplinary officer.
The judge concluded: “Based on the evidence we have considered his conduct on 29 and 30 December 2022 as a senior employee in that hotel did amount to an abuse and a breach of trust as regards his management responsibility and also using hotel facilities without getting permission, playing loud music and drunkenly partying with a junior employee.
“He inconvenienced other guests and put his colleagues working on the night shift in an embarrassing and awkward position.
“He was not contrite or genuinely apologetic as he should have been during the investigation.”
The Club Quarters Hotel has been approached for comment.
English (US) ·