Sacked engineer awarded £20,000

A SERVICE engineer has been awarded just under £20,000 after being sacked in a row over Good Friday working.

Adrian Lappin, pictured below, of Chessington Crescent, Trentham, made a compensation claim for unfair dismissal against his former employers at a Birmingham Employment Tribunal.

The 60-year-old, who serviced forklift trucks in the Stoke-on-Trent area for Complete Handling (Northern) Ltd, was dismissed in April after the firm said he did not have permission to work on Good Friday and have the following Tuesday off.

A claim was also put in for discrimination by association, said to be rare and little-known, after the company complained about an excessive number of calls made by Mr Lappin to check on his disabled wife on the firm's mobile phone.

But this claim was dismissed by the tribunal, which ruled there had been no discrimination by association. Mr Lappin told the tribunal he had always worked on Good Friday and had tried to contact the Ellesmere Port-based firm to confirm the arrangement last Easter.

Tribunal chairman David Kearsley said Mr Lappin had been unfairly dismissed, because the firm had not carried through the correct dismissal procedure, although Mr Lappin had contributed to his dismissal.

He said it was doubtful Mr Lappin would get another job because of his age and he was awarded just under £20,000 after a 10 per cent reduction had been made because of Mr Lappin's contribution to the loss of his job.

Since leaving the company, Mr Lappin has applied for a number of other jobs, but has so far been unsuccessful in finding another role.

He said the money was not his main concern, he just wanted a clean slate.

Mr Lappin told The Sentinel: "I put a request in by phone about four weeks before. There were no directors in and my manager wasn't there so I left a message with someone. I heard nothing back so I presumed everything was OK. I worked the Good Friday, had the Tuesday off and went into work as normal on the Wednesday and nothing was said.

"On Thursday, I had a phone call asking why I worked Good Friday and had the Tuesday off. I said I had always done it.

"Then I was called into the office and they dismissed me for gross misconduct there and then.

"I was shocked to say the least. I just couldn't believe it."

He added: "I wanted to clear my name. I'm very relieved it is over now."

His wife Annette, aged 53, said: "It broke his heart when he came home that day. He couldn't understand why it had happened."

She added: "He has said himself that he isn't ready to retire yet. He's still active and wants to work. He wants a full-time job."