A solicitor sacked after changing her Facebook contact details to a personal number has been awarded £11,500. North west firm Walsh Solicitors was ordered to pay the sum to Lucy Crossman by Manchester employment tribunal following a hearing last month.

In July, the tribunal ruled that Crossman was unfairly dismissed amid a developing lack of trust between the solicitor and her firm. During her notice period following her resignation, Crossman changed the Facebook profile contacts to a new personal number after learning from the phone provider that her work number would be cut off.

The firm held a disciplinary hearing and dismissed Crossman for misconduct.

Employment Judge Johnson said the firm’s owner Terence Walsh ‘appeared to be concentrating on catching out Ms Crossman and little time was spent in exploring the likely truth behind the issue’.

The tribunal found that the background issues could not amount to misconduct sufficient to justify a dismissal.

For her part, Crossman had not ‘fully explored a mutually agreed and transparent solution to her work phone and social media use with her employer before resorting to the drastic action that she took regarding her contact details’.

It added: ‘This was not helped by her suspicion that she was being sabotaged by her employer and as evidenced by contemporaneous social media messages once she had given her notice of resignation. While this might be the case however, any misconduct was relatively minor and certainly not gross.’

Crossman, admitted 2008, had spent five years as a criminal litigation specialist with the firm. The remedy was made with the consent of the parties, and the firm had until today to pay the £11,500.