22/07/2010 - Sacked firefighter awarded £80,000
A firefighter who got sacked for complaining that new chairs in his workplace made his spinal arthritis worse has been given £80,000 for having his human rights abused.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service management got rid of 46-year-old Christopher Bennett, a firefighter for 25 years, because he had emailed his colleagues to find out if they were also having problems with the new £400 chairs that the crew were being forced to use. Bosses bought around 300 of the reclining chairs when they banned firefighters at 41 fire stations from sleeping on beds during the night shift.
But Mr Bennett, from Stockport, had his freedom of expression curtailed and was unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal found. He had asked management to allow him to sleep on his own mattress rather than on one of the chairs, but this was refused.
Mr Bennett had sent the email in February 2008. He was sacked for "gross misconduct" and had already lost an appeal before the tribunal sat.
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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