Firefighter wins £80,000 settlement for unfair dismissal

A firefighter who was sacked for asking colleagues if the brigade’s ‘Calcot’ reclining chairs were hurting their backs has won an out-of-court settlement of £80,000. The man sent an email about the Greater Manchester Fire Service’s insistence that he used a chair that was aggravating a back condition while he worked on nightshifts. He was dismissed for gross misconduct and lost an appeal.