A BMW assembly line worker has won more than £16,000 after being sacked for collecting sandwiches from his car during his break. Ryan Parkinson successfully sued his employer GI Group, a recruitment company which provides temporary labour to BMW’s Oxford factory, for unfair dismissal after his supervisor claimed he had left the site on two occasions without permission.
Mr Parkinson argued he had only gone to the car park to collect his sandwiches, an area which he considered part of the factory site. It was the second time Mr Parkinson had been sacked over claims he left the BMW factory, which manufactures the Mini, without permission.
Mr Parkinson was first sacked after his supervisor at the BMW factory filed an incident report claiming that he “disappeared” during a Sunday overtime shift at 7.50pm on June 17, 2018. His supervisor said Mr Parkinson had not asked anyone for permission, and he returned at 8.45pm with a meal from Burger King.
