Grimsby: Man fairly sacked from pet crematorium - tribunal

Jack Hamilton was sacked from his role at Grimsby Crematorium in December 2021

A man sacked from Grimsby Crematorium after leaving pet ashes in the furnace for a fortnight has lost his claim for unfair dismissal.

An employment tribunal heard Jack Hamilton had purposely pushed the remains to the back of the cremator to hide the fact they were still inside.

The tribunal was also told Mr Hamilton had previously spilt pet ashes onto the floor at the council-run crematorium.

It concluded the claimant's conduct was a "fair reason for his dismissal".

The tribunal heard the ashes and fragments of bone were found in December 2021 by the crematorium's manager and another employee.

During an investigation into the incident in January 2022 other issues including Mr Hamilton's poor timekeeping and failure to wear PPE and corporate uniform also came to light.

A disciplinary hearing was held by North East Lincolnshire Council in February 2022, where Mr Hamilton was told he would be dismissed with notice for "gross misconduct", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Hamilton took his claim of unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal in Lincoln in September, where he denied deliberately failing to follow the correct procedure to de-ash the cremator.

But the tribunal found there was more than sufficient evidence for the council to decide he had failed to remove the ashes and deliberately pushed the remains to the back of the furnace.

'Serious reputational damage'

In response to tribunal questions Mr Hamilton admitted breaching health and safety procedures and accepted that he had also not reflected in work time sheets instances of arriving late for work or leaving shifts early.

He told the tribunal he believed he should have had more training to become familiar with the different procedure for the pet cremator compared to human cremations.

However, the tribunal found he had been given the same training as anyone else and was "satisfied he knew what it was that he had to do and how to do it".

The tribunal also ruled his actions could have potentially caused "serious reputational damage" to the council and could have risked Grimsby Crematorium losing its licence for pet cremations.

On all disputed allegations, the tribunal found the council had a "reasonable belief" that Mr Hamilton was guilty of the incidents.