A fireman, sacked for asking colleagues if the force’s new reclining chairs were hurting their backs, has won £80,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
Christopher Bennett, who had 25 years experience with the fire brigade, claimed that the new chairs which were brought in by the Greater Manchester brigade in place of beds for the night shift, aggravated his arthritis of the spine and emailed firefighters across the brigade to ask if other people were suffering similar problems.
He was sacked for gross misconduct and lost a subsequent appeal. Now an employment tribunal has found that he was unfairly dismissed and that his right to freedom of expression under the Human Rights Act had been breached.
The Greater Manchester Fire Service said it was disappointed with the outcome but defended its actions, saying it demanded high standards. A spokesman said: “Mr Bennett’s actions fell far below those standards when he ignored the email policy and advice from both his line manager and his union representative.
We also believe that by soliciting support against the service Mr Bennett irreparably broke an employer’s trust, hence our decision not to reinstate Mr Bennett.”
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