Some you win, some you lose
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LONG-DISTANCE lorry driver James Queen was sacked for bad timekeeping.
But an industrial tribunal, at which he claimed he was un fairly dismissed, started more than an hour late — because the managing director of the company did not turn up on time.
When the tribunal did start in Edinburgh last week, James Murray Smith, managing director of Smith Motorway Express Ltd, Grangemouth, offered his apologies and said he had been held up by a delayed train.
The tribunal heard that Mr Queen (30), of Dunfermline, had been late on a few occasions, once as much as an hour and a quarter. -He got a few verbal warnings about coming in late," said Mr Smith. "When he was working on local jobs, it was essential for him to be on time. Being late could disrupt the whole day for any customer." Mr Queen denied being told off on five occasions, as Mr Smith had said, for being late. "There was not even a set starting time," he said. "I did not have to start at 7am and I was only later than that on three occasions."
The tribunal decided that Mr Queen had been dismissed fairly, and his application was dismissed.