A railway signaller accused of calling a cleaner a “Nazi food thrower” for clearing out the office fridge has won a £70,000 pay-out.
Michael Knox, 61, was said to have “kicked off” after finding some of his food on the kitchen counter.
Network Rail, his employer, concluded that he called the agency cleaner a “Nazi”, and sacked him for gross misconduct.
Members of the RMT trade union, of which Mr Knox was a representative, voted for strike action after his dismissal, an employment tribunal was told.
Now the experienced signaller has successfully sued Network Rail for unfair dismissal and breach of contract after a tribunal ruled he did not say the phrase.
An employment tribunal in Reading heard that in January 2021, cleaner Bogamil Jacek Plaszcyca was working in the staff kitchen at the Thames Valley Signalling Centre in Didcot.
The centre is responsible for signalling trains from Paddington to the Welsh border.
It was the cleaning agency’s policy that the fridges should be checked on a Friday, and any food left not named and dated should be thrown out, the tribunal heard.
The policy had caused “friction”, and anger about it had been “rumbling on for some time”, the tribunal was told.
After an investigation, the signaller was invited to a disciplinary hearing to face an allegation of calling the cleaner a “f****** Polish Nazi food thrower”, the tribunal heard.
When interviewed by his managers, Mr Knox admitted going into the kitchen, seeing some of his son’s food on the counter and telling a colleague: “It’s a f****** disgrace”.
He denied saying anything offensive to the cleaner, the tribunal heard.
Setting out the reason for dismissal, a manager said Mr Knox had “failed in his capacity as an influential person within that workplace to stop this behaviour from happening”.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch requested a director’s review of the decision, but it was rejected, the tribunal was told.
The panel concluded that while Mr Knox had been “loud” and at the centre of a “ruckus and commotion”, it could not be sure what was actually said.
“We find, on the evidence, that any inappropriate words said were said for the benefit of those in the operations room, rather than directly to the cleaner,” the tribunal said.
The signaller was awarded £8,700 damages for breach of contract, a basic award of of £15,500, as well as £52,000 compensation for unfair dismissal.
