LEGAL VICTORIES

june 2005 :: RMTnews 27 Virgin West Coast sacked service manager Catherine Murphy for allegedly using abusive language following an uncorroborated compliant from passenger Gaynor Bell. However, the company was left with egg on its face after an employment tribunal unanimously decided Ms Murphy was unfairly dismissed and awarded more than £33,000 in damages. RMT solicitors Drummond Miller represented Ms Murphy at the tribunal, which heard that the buffet car was short of supplies and staff on the London-Glasgow run in February last year. Ms Murphy was pushing a complimentary trolley through first class, when Ms Bell wouldn’t accept anything on offer for “dietary reasons” and would not accept alternatives. Ms Bell then wrote to the company, claiming she had been sworn at and threatened. Virgin sacked Ms Murphy on the basis of this complaint without once speaking to the person making the accusations. The train manager even remembered apologising to a passenger and said that he could not understand why such a fuss was being made over an egg sandwich. Tribunal chairman, David Anderson said: “Everything was decided on the basis of the letters of complaint together with one phone call”. Making the award, Mr Anderson told the tribunal that it would have been simple for the company to have met the passenger but it had not bothered. “There was a clear impression passengers were more interested in getting compensation than anything else,” he said. SCOTRAIL Another employment tribunal in Glasgow found train operator ScotRail guilty of unfair dismissal and awarded £24,208 compensation after it sacked a conductor on the uncorroborated word of a passenger. The member, represented by union solicitor Drummond Miller, was alleged to have harassed a female passenger. After he was sacked he had lost an earlier appeal on the grounds that there was insufficient investigation as no statements were taken from other staff and CCTV footage was not examined. However, the tribunal concluded there was a number of failures on the part of ScotRail, including the way the investigation was carried out, the failure to clarify inconsistencies in the allegations and reliance on previous complaints six years ago which did not lead to disciplinary action. The tribunal also found that the Glasgow Central station manager had not even bothered to interview the complainer before dismissing the conductor. Scottish regional organiser Phil McGarry said that the two cases went to the heart of matter in that employers would rather accept the word of passengers who are probably seeking substantial compensation over spurious allegations. “Experienced workers are too often dismissed following flawed investigations and disciplinary proceedings that follow,” he said. RMT WINS COMPENSATION FOR UNFAIR DISMISSALS Train operators Virgin West Coast and First ScotRail have been condemned for using uncorroborated evidence from passengers to sack workers and forced to cough up nearly £60,000 in compensation. An RMT member won £175,000 compensation for personal injury following an accident onboard a ship off the coast of Africa. Whilst assisting in raising anchors from the seabed, a snagged buoy wire broke free and swung across the ship at high velocity, striking the member below the knee. He sustained a serious injury and was airlifted to a local hospital then back to the UK. The member was unable to return to work and required long periods of hospitalisation, surgery and physiotherapy. He will also require a whole knee replacement within the next four years. RMT solicitors Drummond Miller launched personal injury proceedings under the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels(Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997, before reaching an out of court settlement. Drummond Miller lawyer James Carmichael said that the success of the case was only possible as a result of the solicitor’s long association with RMT, which has enabled the firm to build up a vast knowledge of working practices in the industry. The member involved expressed “heartfelt gratitude” to both RMT and Drummond Miller, whose support and professionalism helped him come through a difficult period in his life. “The level of compensation awarded to me will hopefully allow me to get my life back on track after my terrible accident,” he said. PERSONAL INJURY SHIPPING VICTORY