Dismissed driver wins compensation battle
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• A driver said to be working on a self-employed basis for car transporter operators E G Donaldson Transport, has been awarded £1,848 compensation for unfair dismissal by a Birmingham Industrial Tribunal which ruled that the driver concerned, Robert Davies, was in fact an employee.
Davies made a claim for unfair dismissal after he had a row with managing director Eric Donaldson over refusing to take out his car transporter which had a leak in the sleeper cab and other minor faults. The Tribunal preferred Davies' evidence that he had been told that he was fired, to Donaldson's claim that he had told Davies to go away and think about it. Donaldson maintained that Davies had then stormed out of the yard.
In ruling that Davies was in fact an employee, the Tribunal said that the company clearly controlled the work he did, which vehicle he would drive and when he should deliver. The truck and its fuel was supplied by the company, Davies was given holiday pay and at no time did he become responsible for paying VAT. Nor did Davies have the right to delegate the driving of the vehicles to anyone else, and was paid every week whether there was work or not, the tribunal was told.
The company was obliged to provide work, said the Tribun al. Clearly, Davies was not free to 'take it or leave it', and indeed, that was the bone of contention when Donaldson made it quite clear that Davies would be dismissed if he did not drive the vehicle.
The Tribunal was satisfied that Davies was employed by the company and that he was not an independent contractor. They found that the company acted unreasonably in summarily dismissing him without any written warning whatsoever.