Firm slip up on Frank Spencer of haulage
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A LORRY driver was dismissed because of his accident record, not because of redundancy, a Lincoln industrial tribunal has ruled. By claiming redundancy as the reason for the dismissal Alwayn Coles Transport had deprived itself of any opportunity of acting fairly, said the tribunal. Compensation of £2,200 for unfair dismissal was awarded.
The tribunal heard that David Washer was one of 11 bulk tipper drivers employed by the company and, after warnings, was subsequently dismissed, allegedly on the grounds of redundancy.
Mr Washer was extremely upset that he had been selected as he was the third in seniority of the 11 drivers employed.
During his service with the company, however, Mr Washer had some differences of opinion with the managing director about overtime and he seemed to be accident-prone. He had been involved in a number of accidents which had resulted in substantial insurance claims and had been given a written warning in May 1980 for abusive conduct, which the company believed would cause bad cus tomer relations.
• For Mr Washer it was argued that there was no true redundancy situation. There had been 11 full time drivers at the beginning of 1980 and soon after he was dismissed there were 11 full-time drivers again.
It was argued that the agreement between the unions and the Road Haulage Association for the application of "first in last out" in redundancies was binding on the company.
The company maintained there was a redundancy and that Mr Washer had been fairly selected as a bad employment risk. The company did not recognise a union and at the time it was not a member of the RHA.
The tribunal decided that Mr Washer was not redundant within the meaning of Section 81 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 and had not been dismissed because the company's requirement for drivers had ceased or diminished.
The tribunal did not accept that the company was bound by the RHA agreement as it was not an RHA member at the time and the agreement applied only when a union was recognised.
However, the tribunal felt that Mr Washer had been dismissed because he had been involved in a number of accidents, but that reason was never given him as a reason for his redundancy and he had been unable to argue his case.