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Dismissal of driver was 'unfair'
Page 39
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A FIFE lorry driver who was sacked after refusing to do overtime was unfairly dismissed, an industrial tribunal decided last week.
Mr James Briggs Taylor (27), of Methil, claimed against Thermal Transfer (Scotland) Ltd, of Kinghorn. A director of the firm, Mr L. W. Mills, told the Dundee tribunal that in April Mr Taylor had refused to take a lorryload of material to the Glasgow area.
He was warned that he might put his employment in jeopardy and eventually agreed to take the load. Mr Mills said that the lorry broke down with a seized engine after only three miles. Mr Taylor had again refused to take a load to Glasgow in May, the incident that led to his dismissal.
Mr Mills told the tribunal that Mr Taylor had said the journey would mean he would not get home until fairly late. The company got another employee to deliver the load and he had returned in the late afternoon. Mr Taylor said in evidence that he never usually refused to do overtime but both times he had refused were because he had social engagements in the evening.
He was now living off his wife's earnings and was receiving no benefit at all because his former employees had notified the authorities that he had been dismissed for misconduct.
Mr A. C. R. Watt, tribunal chairman, held that Thermal Transfer had acted unreasonably but that Mr Taylor was responsible for his own dismissal to the extent of 20 per cent. Mr Watt said that compensation of £210 had been provisionally awarded to Mr Taylor subject to written confirmation.