Former bus driving instructor loses compensation claim (From Dudley News)
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Former bus driving instructor loses compensation claim
2:43pm Friday 22nd June 2012 in Local
A FORMER bus driving instructor from Kingswinford who complained of bullying has lost his claim for compensation.
Philip Rolinson, who taught bus drivers on various routes, accused National Express West Midlands of moving him to another depot because he made complaints about his treatment.
He also accused the company of putting passengers at health and safety risks by moving him to a different area where he was unfamiliar with new bus routes.
He resigned from National Express in protest, prompting a claim for constructive unfair dismissal after 23 years service.
Mr Rolinson, aged 47, of Standhills Road, who had previously been a bus driver, had been based at West Bromwich, Harts Hill at Dudley and the Pensnett depot during his career.
He complained he had been bullied by two managers and called a “dickhead” among other alleged insults.
He said there had been several “nasty incidents”and accused the respondents of planning to transfer him from the Pensnett depot to Wolverhampton because four of his five complaints against the management had been upheld.
He said: “They regarded me as a trouble maker which was not true.”
Mr Rolinson also said he feared passengers would be put at health and safety risks by moving him to Wolverhampton because he would have to train bus drivers on routes he was not familiar with.
National Express opposed his compensation claim.
Operations manager Raj Mishra told the tribunal that staff were often transferred to help boost their careers “and to make them aware of a bigger picture going on around them.”
Mr Mishra told Mr Rolinson he was regarded as a hard worker but work banter was nothing more than a “figure of speech.”
Mr Rolinson, who had been represented by his brother, Clive, from Dudley, replied: ”It can also be insulting.”
Tribunal judge David Goodier said he did not believe Mr Rolinson’s transfer was because of making complaints and he also discounted his evidence about the health and safety risks to passengers.
Mr Goodier rejected Mr Rolinson’s compensation claim for constructive unfair dismissal but described him as a sincere witness who had genuine and strongly held beliefs.
