£30,000 for man sacked while signed off after friends’ murder

Worker was dismissed as he dealt with tragedy

A Dundee man sacked by tyre company Michelin while off sick with stress following a triple tragedy has won nearly £30,000 from a tribunal.

Stan Reid was signed off sick from his job as a production worker at Dundee’s Michelin tyre factory in February last year during the hunt for his best friend’s 18-year-old son Ralph Smith, who had fallen from cliffs near Arbroath.

At a vigil at the teenager’s family home in Whitfield two of his friends, Julie McCash and David Sorrie, were stabbed and killed by Robert Stratton, with Ralph’s body then found washed ashore one month later.

To make matters worse for Mr Reid, his bosses at Michelin then sacked him for gross misconduct after learning through Facebook that he had attended a gin festival in Glasgow in a bid to get away from it all.

Describing Mr Reid’s treatment as “egregiously unfair”, Judge Peter Wallington QC has now awarded him £29,485.45 following an employment tribunal last month lasting three days.

In what is considered to be a particularly rare move, QC Wallington is also considering fining the company £5,000 for their treatment of Mr Reid.

Mr Reid said he was delighted with the decision. “They never took into account the murders or that I was still looking for wee Ralphie,” he said.

“They had tunnel vision and had already decided why I was in Glasgow.

“They claimed they look after their workers but quite clearly they don’t and the judge has agreed.”

Muir Myles Laverty’s (MML) Ryan Russell, who represented Mr Reid, said “justice had been done”.

He said: “The is a victory for Mr Reid, his family, those connected to the tragic events and anyone who has been judged whilst suffering from mental health problems.”

Stan Reid was sacked by Michelin after attending a gin festival while he was off sick.