A bus driver has been sacked after he abandoned his bus full of passengers at the side of the road to grab a coffee from a café. Ian Brown decided to leave his bus unsecured with the engine still running and passengers on board while he hopped off to use the toilet and get a hot drink.
Mr Brown, who was already under caution for poor attendance throughout his five years of employment, made the bus late as a result of the incident on March 13, 2020, an employment tribunal heard. Amazingly, CCTV footage also showed Mr Brown running a red light as he was distracted reading a letter summoning him to a disciplinary hearing, reports MyLondon.
When called by a controller asking why the London bus was late, Mr Brown was allegedly heard saying: "It is against my contract. I'm not driving this bus for the rest of the day." The controller said that a refusal to continue to drive would be a "self suspension", to which Mr Brown replied: "I'm not suspending myself, you are bullying me and I'm not fit to drive. You can collect the bus from Seven Sisters," — and he left the bus.
Mr Brown claimed to his boss that he was being bullied and he should be paid while suspended. He said: "Controllers' constant bullying and harassment while on duty goes unnoticed. Are you saying I have no rights to a toilet break or to be paid while off sick…. This is not a self suspension but stress under duress."
A misconduct hearing reviewed the CCTV footage and attendance records and formally sacked the driver in August 2020. An appeal by Mr Brown later failed. An employment tribunal held last month and published this week ruled that Mr Brown's claim of unfair dismissal had failed.
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Employment Judge Tuck KC wrote: "On 13 March 2020 the claimant was driving a double decker bus on route 243 (from Waterloo to Wood Green in London). He arrived late to take over the bus – at around 2.17pm then left it unsecured at a bus stand, with the engine running and passengers on board, while he went to the café to use the toilet and collect a hot drink, not leaving the stand until 2.21pm.
"CCTV from a camera in the bus cab from 2.22pm shows the claimant taking pages which had been in the envelope. He was braking as he approached a traffic light, shows the light turning from amber to red at least 3 seconds before the claimant reached the stop line, and the claimant proceeding across the junction. It is not in dispute that the letter which was in the claimant's hand and shown during this CCTV footage was the letter dated 12 March inviting him to a disciplinary hearing.
"I am satisfied that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses. Furthermore, I would have found that the claimant contributed to his dismissal by 100 per cent."
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