Mr B Krol v The Haulage (Holdings) Organisation Limited — 2022

Mr Krol was employed as an HGV driver from 30 September 2019 until his dismissal on 17 March 2020. He claimed automatic unfair dismissal on health and safety grounds under s.100(1)(c) and s.100(1)(d) Employment Rights Act 1996. The tribunal recorded that his earlier race discrimination claims had been withdrawn and were not before it in this judgment.

The tribunal found that Mr Krol had not proved that he raised health and safety concerns orally before dismissal, either with colleagues or with Mr Dutton. It accepted that the written grievance dated 17 March 2020 expressed concerns about the safety of the chicken slurry trailer contents and trailer exchanges in a layby, but found that the grievance email was sent after he had already been dismissed and therefore could not have been the reason for the dismissal.

The tribunal found that the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal was Mr Krol's conduct connected with spillages: two earlier spillages had not been reported in line with policy, and the respondent also relied on issues concerning the damaged tachograph and deleted dashcam files in relation to the 11 March 2020 incident. It accepted that the respondent did not follow a fair procedure, its own disciplinary process, or the ACAS Code, but held that this did not matter because the statutory health and safety dismissal test was not met.

The claim for automatic unfair dismissal was therefore dismissed and no remedy was awarded.