A member of staff at a Paisley-based care organisation was sacked for refusing to follow Covid-19 protocols, an employment tribunal has heard.
Mr D Blair refused to be tested for Covid-19 throughout the pandemic even though he worked with at-risk children.
The child and youth care worker had submitted a complaint of unfair dismissal against his previous employers Kibble, who he had worked for since 2008.
Staff at the organisation were required to test a minimum of once a week, in line with government guidance.
The employment tribunal found that Mr Blair was aware of the policy, but chose not to follow it.
He attended a training event on Friday, January 7, 2022, following which he received a call from a duty manager advising him he’d been a close contact of someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
When he was asked to test for the virus by the manager, he refused to do so and stated that he would not take a test.
“He was asked to provide a written explanation of his position,” notes a report on the findings of the tribunal.
“He was advised that there was a risk of disciplinary action if no reasonable explanation was provided.”
Despite potentially being infected with Covid-19, Mr Blair attended his workplace on January 15, but was sent home as he had not self isolated for 10 days as the policy required.
He would later tell his employer that “the tests were not reliable” and he said he felt it is “not advisable or necessary for him to take any test”.
He also argued that he did not consider the test to be adequately safe.
A disciplinary hearing was held on March 8 where he reiterated again that he would not take a test.
A letter was issued to Mr Blair on March 22 informing him of the disciplinary hearing’s decision to terminate his contract.
It noted that he would not comply with the guidelines going forward and that he had said he had never complied with them, with Mr Blair reported to have said that he did not believe in the government guidelines and they were “not [his] reality”.
The report states that Kibble considered that Mr Blair’s actions were “contrary to the ethos” of the organisation and could have “endangered those for whom the respondent was responsible”.
Adding that his actions “represented an unacceptable risk to the health and well being and dismissal was a necessary and proportionate outcome.”
Before taking his case to an employment tribunal, Mr Blair made two unsuccessful appeals against his dismissal.
Judge D Hoey found that there were no grounds for unfair dismissal, saying: “This decision does not mean that the claimant acted unreasonably.
“There were cogent and genuine reasons why the claimant chose to act as he did.
“The claimant’s approach, however, requires to be balanced with the impact upon others, particularly given the reasonable risk that was understood, from the information available at the time, that the virus created and the respondent’s regulatory position and duty to protect those within its care.
“The claimant is entitled to the views he had. Equally, the respondent is under an obligation to ensure those within its care are properly protected.
“On the facts of this case the respondent acted reasonably having balanced all of the factors, in dismissing the claimant.
“Applying the law to the facts of this case, the claimant was dismissed fairly.”
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