A cancer sufferer signed off work for having a bad shoulder was sacked after private investigators secretly filmed him turning on an outdoor tap while off sick, a tribunal heard.
Alan Jones suffered from severe shoulder pain as a result of his medical treatment and was signed off work.
But bosses became suspicious he had started a second job on sick leave after a 'tip off' Mr Jones had been seen wearing work boots.
They hired a surveillance team, called Mike India 5 to mimic MI5, which filmed the 55 year old simply opening a tap on a friend's farm, handing him a hose and carrying a small plastic bag of potatoes.
Mr Jones was then fired from his 36 year job for 'undertaking physical activities' while on sick leave.
But he is now in line to receive compensation after an employment tribunal ruled he had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against due to his disability.
They also noted that hiring agents to film workers in this way 'does involve interference with human rights and an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy'.
The tribunal heard Mr Jones had worked for glass manufacturers Pilkington at its site in St Helens, Merseyside, since 1983, and had gone on to become a team leader.
He underwent a high dose of radiotherapy in the 1980s after developing Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This treatment forced the cancer into remission but in 2006 he began to suffer from shoulder pain.
This was diagnosed in September 2019 as being a side effect of the radiotherapy drugs, which caused a chronic and progressive condition called radiation-induced neuropathy - also known as fibrosis radiation syndrome.
The tribunal heard the degenerative condition resulted in muscle loss and a weakness in his right arm. His shoulder became extremely sensitive, with pain from the ‘slightest touches’.
As a result, the married father of three was placed on 'light work' duties by Pilkington from January 2018 and he continued with these until November 2018, when he went off sick due to his shoulder pain.
The tribunal, in Manchester, also heard Mr Jones began suffering from mental health issues in September 2018 due to the pain and uncertainty of his physical disability.
In March 2019, a fellow worker told bosses he had seen Mr Jones in a local cycle shop wearing heavy-duty tan-coloured work boots.
Suspicious managers became concerned he 'might be involved in secondary employment' so instructed a surveillance company with the 'hubristic title of Mike India 5 agents' to monitor Mr Jones' activities at a daily rate of £950 for four days.
Employment Judge Alan Johnson noted: "It appears that little consideration was given concerning the proportionality of the investigation and the extent to which Mr Jones’ privacy should be interfered with...
"This sort of activity does involve interference with human rights and an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy."
The tribunal heard footage showed Mr Jones, of St Helens, sharing a transit van belonging to Cronton Farm.
He accompanied a farmer he was friends with and the farmer’s son on a delivery of potatoes to nearby houses in Merseyside towns Knowsley and St Helens in May 2019.
Judge Johnson said: "At its highest, the physical effort the tribunal could see was his handling of a small plastic bag in which appeared to be placed a normal retail sized bag of potatoes."
The surveillance also captured footage of Mr Jones passing a hose to the farmer and holding a tap open with his right hand 'for a few minutes' while the farmer watered flowers which were apparently being grown for use at Mr Jones’ daughter’s wedding.
Judge Johnson 'did not see it as a particularly physical activity'.
Despite this, bosses were concerned by the footage and held an investigatory meeting to consider Mr Jones' activities and whether they breached the sickness procedure.
Mr Jones told them he assisted his friend on the farm to help his mental health, for the social inclusion, as a hobby, and claimed it helped his physical rehabilitation and aided his return to work.
However, bosses decided he had 'undertaken physical activity' during his sickness absence, for which he was being paid both occupation and statutory sick pay.
They said he breached the company's sickness policy and 'irreparably damaged the employment contract' and sacked him for sacked for gross misconduct.
Employment Judge Johnson ruled Mr Jones was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against due to his physical disability.
He said: "Any conduct issues related to a failure by Mr Jones to explain at his welfare meetings that he wished to attend the farm.
"This failure may have made it more likely the disciplinary process would be commenced, but it was not the ultimate reason given to support the finding of gross misconduct and would not in itself have amounted to a matter of gross misconduct."
A remedy hearing will be held to decide how much compensation Mr Jones will be awarded.
