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Tribunal gets the Gist with €3k for sacking

25th November 2004
Page 12
Page 12, 25th November 2004 — Tribunal gets the Gist with €3k for sacking
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Reefer specialist Gist has been rapped for sacking a driver allegedly suffering from flu. Jennifer Ball reports.

LOGISTICS FIRM Gist has been ordered to pay one of its former drivers more than £3,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal after it failed to investigate claims that he was forced to drive while suffering from flu.

Carlisle-based Ralph Hedley was sacked after being involved in an accident on the M6 last year, despite having an unblemished record. He had worked at the firm's Carlisle depot for 10 years. Hedley told a Carlisle employment tribunal that he was pressured to drive back from Crewe when the accident happened, despite telling his manager that he was suffering with flu.

Tribunal chairman Ian Watt said that it was "wholly astonishing" that the firm failed to investigate Hedley's claims before he was dismissed.

He found that the firm's first disciplinary hearing in November, "failed miserably" to meet the minimum standards of fairness and reasonableness.

Hedley was awarded £3,222 by the tribunal just days after turning down a £9,000 out-of-court settlement. A claim for legal costs was denied.

A Gist spokeswoman says safety is its priority and it requires the highest standards from its drivers. It would never force anyone to work when ill, she adds.


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