Engineer fired over affair with boss’s wife loses at tribunal

AN ENGINEER who was sacked for having an affair with his boss’s wife claimed unfair dismissal because they only had sex outdoors.

Anthony Smith was fired after it emerged that he had been conducting a secret liaison with Lyndsay George for eight months while employed by Full Circle Irrigation of North Yorkshire.

Mrs George, who was co-director of the specialist drainage company with her husband, Rob, 44, admitted that she had been sleeping with Mr Smith in the office and in work vehicles during working hours. He was later sacked for gross misconduct.

The 38-year-old initially resigned from her post as co-director in February 2021, thus avoiding disciplinary action, but is now back with the company in an administration role.

The tribunal in Leeds heard that Mr Smith and Mrs George embarked on a relationship in the spring of 2020 and it was made public in Jan 2021 after a colleague became suspicious of their behaviour.

In his defence, Mr Smith claimed he did not have sex with Mrs George on company time or property as alleged.

He claimed they instead had sex outdoors and that witnesses who spoke against him had been “bribed”, but Employment Judge Emma Tegerdine dismissed his excuses and threw out his unfair dismissal claim.

“The tribunal found his assertion that his affair with Miss George, which took place over a period of at least eight months, some of which were in the middle of winter, was conducted wholly outside, to be implausible,” she said.

Mr Smith also faced allegations of abuse after he shouted and swore at Leeds United’s training ground four months previously and faced allegations of xenophobia for comments he made to Polish and Romanian colleagues. He said the claims had been “fabricated”.

The investigation was carried out by an external HR firm given how “emotive” the issues were, the hearing was told.