Bin man claims unfair dismissal after being sacked by council

Posted 17/10/2010

A former bin man is seeking compensation for unfair dismissal from his employer amid claims that the council took away his freedom of speech.

Paul French, 50, was an employee of Edinburgh City Council for 11 years, but had become involved in a dispute over pay.

He took to an internet forum to express his displeasure with his employer and also wrote a letter to his local paper.

However, he was sacked for acting outside the council’s code of conduct and for undermining the organisation.

Mr French insists that he should not have lost his job over the matter because he had never seen the code of conduct until his tribunal hearing.

He also points out that his wife wrote a letter to the newspaper too, but was not sacked.

As a result, he is seeking compensation for sex discrimination and unfair dismissal.

“I do not believe my misconduct would fall in the gross misconduct category – it should have been dealt with in another way, I should not have lost my job. I feel like they took away my freedom of speech,” he commented.

Employers are increasingly using the internet to check employees’ credentials and a number of cases have arisen in which people have lost their jobs as a result of posts on Facebook.