A BMW assembly worker has won £16,000 after being sacked for going to Burger King for some lunch, an employment tribunal ruled.
Ryan Parkinson ‘disappeared’ for about an hour during an overtime shift at a BMW factory in Oxford before returning with food from the restaurant.
On his return, he was reprimanded for not telling anyone – which he disputed – and was subject to a disciplinary investigation where he was sacked.
His initial dismissal was revoked following an appeal, but Mr Parkinson was fired for a second time when he left the site to collect sandwiches from his car.
Mr Parkinson, who is black and of African heritage, also claimed direct race discrimination, race-related harassment and victimisation – but these elements of his case were dismissed.
Assembly worker Ryan Parkinson was sacked twice for leaving the BMW plant to go and get food
A BMW assembly worker has won £16,000 after being sacked for going to Burger King for some lunch, an employment tribunal ruled. Pictured: BMW plant in Oxford
Following an employment tribunal, he was awarded £16,916 in compensation and unpaid wages.
It was heard that in June 2018, Mr Parkinson’s supervisor submitted a report claiming he was ‘missing off site’ during a Sunday night overtime shift at the BMW plant where he worked in Oxford.
According to the document, Mr Parkinson was noted to be missing at 7.50pm, before returning at around 8.45pm with food from Burger King.
The report asserted that he had not asked for permission nor had noted anyone in his team that he was leaving.
The supervisor alleged that he searched the restrooms and smoking areas to ensure he was not in the building in case of a fire alarm.
After being confronted, the supervisor noted that Mr Parkinson ‘was upset’ and ‘decided he did not wish to be here any more’ and went home at 9.45pm.
Three days after the incident, Mr Parkinson was quizzed by bosses and said the assembly team had finished a particular job and so began discussing food.
He said: ‘Everyone wanted a kebab, and I said I wanted a Burger King. My [co-workers] were talking about what they were going to get.
‘I said I’m going to get a Burger King. I got on a scooter thing and went and got a Burger King and sat in my car until half past.
According to the reported submitted by his supervisor, Mr Parker was noted to be missing at 7.50pm, before returning at around 8.45pm with food from Burger King
‘I rang [a colleague] at 8.23pm and 8.28pm to ask what was going on. He replied that they made us work through break as the kebab had not come yet.
Mr Parkinson said that after telephone call with his colleague, he picked up what he had left from the Burger King and came inside to look for everyone.
‘At say 8.38pm [my supervisor] asked where I had been, and he had been looking for me. I said that I went on my break and went to get Burger King.
‘He said I should have notified someone, and I said I did. I went back to work and left after an hour, but I was not happy as another guy had gone missing for over an hour, and no one went looking for him,’ he is reported to have said.
On August 23 2018, Mr Parkinson was signed off work with stress at work and anxiety until February 2019.
A disciplinary hearing took place in May 2019, and he was sacked, but after appealing this it was replaced with a final written warning as firing him was ‘quite harsh’.
However, upon returning to work he was immediately suspended for a fresh allegation of leaving site without permission when he collected sandwiches from his car.
Mr Parkinson submitted a grievance, complaining suspension was a ‘knee jerk and heavy-handed reaction’ and ‘vindictive and baseless’.
In November, he was sacked for a second time by the agency he was employed by for gross misconduct for leaving the site again without permission, and he brought his employers to court.
The Reading tribunal heard Mr Parkinson had worked for GI Group, a recruitment agency, since January 2014.
Mr Parkinson has also alleged that in a manager at BMW had assaulted him in October 2017, the tribunal heard.
Mr Parkinson said: ‘I got punched in my chest by my manager because I put in a grievance about the woman [for] racial discrimination because she just started working at BMW, and started making my life a misery by always looking for ways to get me into trouble.’
However, his grievances were dismissed, the hearing was told.
Mr Parkinson, who is black and of African heritage, also claimed direct race discrimination, race-related harassment and victimisation – but these elements of his case were dismissed.
During the time they found him work he claimed that a female worker at BMW – which was a client of GI Group – racially discriminate against him as she ‘has got problems with black people’.
Employment Judge Stephen Vowles said: ‘[GI Group] failed to investigate the assertions by [Mr Parkinson] and his trade union representatives that this was a widespread practice done during break times by dozens of other employees.
‘There was no evidence of any procedure in place by [GI Group] for obtaining permission to exit the site or to notify a supervisor of exiting the site or the recording of any such permission or notification.
‘Leaving a secure area through a turnstile for a few minutes to visit a car in the company car park when, it seems, that many other employees did exactly the same, though not investigated by [GI Group], did not amount to gross misconduct.
‘He left his place of work to visit his car to collect his sandwiches during a break.’
All his other claims were dismissed, with the tribunal concluding there was ‘no evidence whatsoever’ of racism.
