HUMAN RIGHTS VICTORY FOR THE CHEF SACKED OVER CANNABIS

A CHEF who was sacked after being caught with drugs out-side his place of
work has won his claim that he was unfairly dismissed.

Robert Wilson, 21, used human rights legislation to successfully argue that
his personal rights had been infringed.

An employment tribunal ruled that the David Lloyd leisure club in Ellesmere
Port, Cheshire, was wrong to fire him.

Chairman Elaine Donnelly said dismissal Mr Wilson had contributed to his
dismissal by just one third and awarded him compensation of UKP175 - a
week's pay.

She added that the David Lloyd management had a right to be concerned about
the impact of drugs on a health club but should have let Mr Wilson off with
a formal warning.

The case is thought to be the first in which the Human Rights Act has been
successfully used at an employment tribunal to separate a person's private
and work life.

Mr Wilson, 21, had finished a shift last July was in a car park oppo- site
the club, when security guards found him with the class B drug cannabis,
the tribunal in Liverpool was told.

There had been 'management con-cerns about drug abuse among staff'.

Police were called and Mr Wilson was arrested. The chef, who earned around
UKP9,000 a year was suspended and three weeks later, following an official
police warning, was sacked.

At the tribunal, lawyer John Littler argued that Mr Wilson's human rights
had been breached

He said that under Article Six, which outlines the right to a fair trial,
his client's employers should not have questioned him about the matter
while police were investigating.

After the case Mr Littler an employment law specialist, said: 'Employers
should not interview an employee until police have finished their
investigation.

'If they do the employee is prejudiced because he is being forced to
divulge information which could be passed on to the police. This would
contravene his right to silence.'

Mr Littler added that his client was considering appealing against the
tribunal decision that he contributed to his dismissal.

A spokesman for David Lloyd - owned by the Whitbread chain - said last
night: 'Mr Wilson was sacked for bringing the club and the company into
disrepute through his involvement with cannabis.

'It seems the tribunal did not criticise us for dismissing him but for
questioning him while the police investigation was under way.

'He won on human rights legislation which only came into -place last October.'

Critics have warned that the legislation - dubbed the 'complainers'
charter' - will boost the spiralling 'compensation culture' which currently
cost the taxpayer almost ?9billion a year. The British Chamber of Commerce
said: 'Employers face significant costs at tribunals.

'This illustrates the need for more clarity for employers on the impact of
the legislation, which appears to be a minefield.'

Last year almost 120,000 applications for tribunals were made by employees
- - a record.

"I believe that the notion that sentences passed in court act as a
deterrent is an improbable one. There is no real evidence to support it.
Deterrence is a rather middle class idea. "

"We know that prison costs UKP26,000 per prisoner per year. There are other
costs, and the overall total cost of [Scotland's] prisons was UKP186m in
1998/99"

"Nor is there any conclusive evidence that mass imprisonment produces any
significant reduction in crime rates. There is a good deal of evidence that
it does not. "

Lord McLuskey, Scotland on Sunday, 20 Feb, 2000