Lorry driver couldn't change his wheel
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MANCHESTER Industrial Tribunal awarded lorry driver Sampson Day 006 compensation for unfair dismissal after being told that he had been sacked following an argument with haulage contractors J. 0. Transport of Bolton's managing director, James Obertelli. He had accused him of being "unable to undertake a simple job like changing a wheel".
The Tribunal said the firm had been negligent in allowing nuts holding a spare wheel on a vehicle to become so corroded that they could not be moved manually.
It was told that Mr Day had left the company's depot at 4.30 am on August 13 to go to Hampshire, and had a puncture on the motorway. He could not remove the spare wheel as'the retaining nuts had rusted. He telephoned the company who sent out a vehicle with a spare wheel to Mr Day.
He strained his back while striving to move the nuts on the spare wheel, and when he arrived at the yard the following day an argument began with Mr Obertelli.
The Tribunal said Mr Ober telli was in fact criticising his driver for something which wag entirely the company's fault and as a result the argument became heated.
Mr Obertelli agreed that he ought to have let the matter rest until the following day, but argued that dismissal was justified by bad language used by Mr Day in the altercation.
The managing director had in fact told Mr Day what he should do in no uncertain terms — this clearly meant he was being dismissed. The Tribunal held that Mr Day should have controlled his language but they felt that his excesses were pardonable in the circumstances. Mr Obertelli ought to have kept his temper. Mr Obertelli also appeared irritated that someone had to bring a spare wheel all the way from Bolton. He thought his driver should have walked off the motorway to a garage, apparently not realising that it was illegal to walk on a motorway, except for phoning in the event of a breakdown. That was exactly what Mr Day had done.