Worker at Oxford Mini site fired for getting food from car on break

Ryan Parkinson was sacked twice from his job on the factory line at BMW's Mini plant

A worker who was fired after collecting sandwiches from his car during a break was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.

Ryan Parkinson was employed by recruiter GI Group as an assembly line worker at BMW's Mini factory in Oxford.

He won £16,000 after he sued GI for unfair dismissal over claims he left the site twice without permission.

The tribunal found Mr Parkinson's dismissal was "procedurally and substantively unfair".

Burger King

Mr Parkinson was first sacked after his supervisor filed an incident report claiming he "disappeared" during an overtime shift on 17 June 2018.

The supervisor said Mr Parkinson had not asked for permission to leave and returned with a meal from Burger King.

He confronted Mr Parkinson who then went home after appearing "upset", the tribunal heard.

Mr Parkinson maintained the car park was part of the site

In an interview three days later, Mr Parkinson said he left after his team finished a job and had begun to discuss food.

In August 2018 Mr Parkinson was signed off work by his GP for work-related stress and anxiety and continued to be signed off for further periods until February 2019.

He returned to work but was subjected to another incident report over allegedly leaving the site without permission on 13 May 2019.

'Genuine confusion'

Following an investigation it was said that he had also left the site without permission on 14 May 2019.

A disciplinary hearing was held a day later for the Burger King incident and Mr Parkinson was sacked but the dismissal was changed to a final warning after he appealed.

Mr Parkinson returned to work again on 8 July 2019 where he was immediately suspended over the two accusations in May he left the site without permission.

He was then sacked again in November 2019 for gross misconduct in relation to those two incidents.

In his evidence, Mr Parkinson said the two trips were to the car park to collect his sandwiches during a break. He also maintained the car park was part of the site.

The tribunal found there was genuine confusion in Mr Parkinson's mind about what was "on site" or not, and that this was not "sufficiently or reasonably" investigated by his employer before sacking him.

The tribunal ruled Mr Parkinson's dismissal over the two May 2019 trips was "procedurally and substantively unfair".

However, further claims of race discrimination, race-related harassment and victimisation made by Mr Parkinson were dismissed.