Coloroll Carpets compensates Tew
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MA Birmingham industrial tribunal has decided that Coloroll Carpets was wrong to sack a driver who drove his vehicle down a prohibited road in the company's factory and damaged an overhead gantry. Compensation was agreed between the parties in the sum of £3,500.
The tribunal said that JF Tew was a Class I driver and he had been sacked the day before the 12th anniversary of his employment by Coloroll. Two of the trailers in the company's fleet were curtainsided with a height of 15ft 8in (4.775m) and this precluded them from following the usual route through the company's premises. The problem was a gantry 15ft (4.572m) above the roadway, which was the company's main artery carrying steam pipes electricity and telephone cables.
No single driver was specifically assigned to the curtainsiders, so it was only about one week in seven or eight that they had to use the other route.
In September 1985 Tew was given a final warning for using the prohibited route and damaging the gantry. However, the company conceded that warning had lapsed after two years. Therefore, contrary to what was said in the letter of dismissal, Tew was not the subject of a final warning when dismissed.
Tew's case was that the incident occurred due to a momentary lapse of attention. Had it been the company's case that he had been reckless or that it had been a deliberate attempt to inflict damage, then dismissal would have been a reasonable response.
It seemed to the tribunal that there was no difference in principle between a minor act of careless driving which caused damage and a momentary lapse of attention.
The tribunal did not think for a moment that Tew would have been dismissed for a momentary lapse on the highway resulting in a minor bump when he had no outstanding warnings.