Driver sacking was not unfair
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A driver who left his job with Selby-based livestock haulier Alec B Storey has lost a claim
for unfair dismissal before a Leeds employment tribunal.
Kevan Heighten had claimed that he had been constructively dismissed by being forced to resign because of his employer's conduct. He said he had been told to do something which would have led to a breach of the drivers' hours rules.
The tribunal said that on 22 February Beighton started work at 04:30hrs and ended up at Newark. He was asked to go to Bottesford to pick up a load of pigs. When he got to the farm there were seven trucks ahead of him. They were there to move 2,000 pigs because of a bankruptcy.
Heighten phoned Storey several times about the situation. One possibility was an overnight stay, but that would cause problems with the Pig Welfare Regulations.
The tribunal accepted that Storey had been considering the use of a relief driver before Beighton resigned during a telephone conversation. Storey arrived at Bottesford with a relief driver about 90 minutes later.
Finding that there was no breach of contract, the tribunal said that when Beighton resigned, things were very much "up in the air". Storey's conduct did not justify Beighton's decision to resign.