Park worker receives £550,000 award for unfair dismissal

A park worker was awarded £550,000 in damages after it was ruled that he was unfairly dismissed. A tribunal judged that he was the victim of discrimination because of his disability and set the compensation at a record level.

The 34-year-old park worker from London suffered from learning difficulties.

His employer, the London Borough of Lambeth, was accused of selecting employees for redundancy using a system that was unfair to disabled workers. This involved such criteria as whether staff held a UK drivers licence and their record of sick leave.

The compensation package takes into consideration the loss of earnings until retirement. The sum is thought to be a record payout in a disability discrimination case.

The worker was part of a group of 24 gardeners and park workers from the borough who brought cases against their employer. The national union of General and Municipal Workers (GMB) backed the cases of discrimination and unfair dismissal. The total damages awarded were in excess of £1.3m.

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23/01/2008 15:10:32