Nestle factory worker sacked for sparking evacuation by vaping wins £22,000 payout

A man who was sacked for shutting down production in a Nestle factory has won a massive payout after being unfairly fired.

Luke Billings has won £22,000 in a payout from Nestle after he set off a fire alarm while vaping in the company’s Staffordshire factory bathroom.

Billings had worked in the factory for more than a decade when, in October 2023, the fire alarm went off after CCTV showed him slipping into a bathroom to smoke.

He was questioned by bosses about the footage, and admitted he did use vapes at home and on the weekends, but didn’t admit to smoking on the job.

Despite not fessing up, Billings was dismissed for gross conduct – but after an employment tribunal in Nottingham, it was found Nestle had no right to fire him.

Billings has been handed £22,216 for wrongful termination.

The tribunal heard that Nestle’s disciplinary officer considered a few reasons before firing him: ‘Firstly, he considered a breach of health and safety. Secondly, he lost trust and confidence in the Claimant because he believed he was lying. 

‘Thirdly, there was a loss of production to the business. He concluded that the Claimant, having been employed for a long time in the business, ought to have known better. ‘

Still, Billings argued that he was unfairly dismissed because at the time of the incident, he was being phased back into the job after leaving for a year of sickness and depression.

The tribunal found: ‘The less favourable treatment was not because of the Claimant’s disability but because he did not admit his culpability and/or apologise. The reason for dismissal had nothing to do with the Claimant’s disability.’  

Billings’ claim of disability discrimination wasn’t upheld, but he was found to have been unfairly dismissed.

In addition to the £22,000 payout, Billings will be reimbursed for the earnings he lost when he was set to return to work a month after the incident.

Earlier this year, a company director who repeatedly shouted ‘potato’ at an Irish woman was ordered to pay her £23,300 after an employment tribunal found she had been racially harassed.

Over a period of six months, Mick Atkins, from engineering firm West Leeds Civils, targeted Bernadette Hayes, who is Irish, using terms like ‘paddy’, ‘stupid paddy’ and ‘pikey’.

She said: ‘This totally eroded my self-respect and my self-esteem. It made me feel small, insecure, violated and extremely anxious.’

Finding in Bernadette’s favour, Judge Buckley said: ‘From a subjective point of view, it clearly created a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment for her.

‘In my view, taken as a whole, it is reasonable for an individual of Irish heritage to find the repeated use of the terms “potato”, “paddy”, “stupid paddy” and “pikey” offensive and humiliating.’

She was awarded £20,736 and the company was told to give her four weeks’ pay, amounting to £2,800 after the judge upheld her harassment claim.

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