Michelin bosses have been accused of being “heartless and robotic” after sacking a man who attended a gin festival while on sick leave following three personal tragedies.
A three-day employment tribunal to consider the dismissal of Stan Reid, a production worker at Michelin Tyre Factory, concluded on Wednesday.
Judge Peter Wallington QC heard that Mr Reid was dismissed after being tagged in a Facebook post attending a gin festival while on sick leave.
In February last year, 18-year-old Ralph Smith, the son of Mr Reid’s best friend, died after falling from Arbroath cliffs.
After a vigil for Ralph, two more of Mr Reid’s friends, Julie McCash and David Sorrie, were stabbed to death by Robert Stratton.
Mr Reid, who helped coordinate a search for Ralph, took seven days off due to the stress caused by both events.
But he was sacked for gross misconduct after Facebook posts showed him at a gin festival in Glasgow. Bosses claimed he was trying to defraud the firm’s sick pay scheme.
Mr Reid’s solicitor Ryan Russell, of Muir Myles and Laverty, said bosses had formed an “unshakable” view that it was wrong for Mr Reid to have attended the event, but none could offer any reason why.
He said: “They all thought the claimant should be in his bed hiding under the covers. This is not a chancer pulling a sickie — this is far from it.
“This was the worst period in his life. They all knew that and they still treated him in this way.
“They were robotic and heartless in the way he was treated.”
Barrister Stefan Lewinski, representing the tyre manufacturer, said that the “terrible, traumatic events” were an “undeniable and sad feature”.
But he added: “In the real world for an employer, looking at a matter to hear someone is off sick and, on the last shift, they go to a social event for the day in another city — one would surmise they were fit enough to attend work.”
After the hearing, Mr Reid said he was “delighted” the case was over, adding: “I hope that anyone suffering from mental health symptoms is dealt with in a fair way by their employer.”
Judge Wallington will now consider the case before issuing his judgment.
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