Boss uses spycam to sack worker for chatting to friends online

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A boss used a spy camera to catch one of his saleswomen "chatting" to friends online, an employment tribunal heard yesterday.

He then sacked Gemma Walker for using the internet while ignoring customers.

The tribunal heard that staff at the Get Connected mobile phone chain were banned from using the MSN messaging service at its 42 shops nationwide.

Boss John Harris told the tribunal in Cardiff that despite warnings he caught Miss Walker using MSN on two separate occasions at the store in Tonypandy, South Wales.

"I logged on to the webcam facility at approximately 11am. She had MSN on her screen at the time - I could see her chatting to three girls."

Miss Walker, 23, said she was unaware of the MSN ban and had not received warning letters from the company. She claimed she was dismissed for being pregnant and was the victim of sexual discrimination because she was not given time off for an antenatal appointment.

But the tribunal ruled in favour of Oasis Communications Services, which owns Get Connected.

Tribunal chairman Brynley Lloyd said: "Miss Walker was the author of her own misfortune."