Sacked London park worker wins record payout of £550,000 over disability discrimination claim

A sacked London park worker has been awarded a £550,000 record payout after a tribunal ruled he was the victim of disability discrimination.

The man, who suffers with learning difficulties, was unfairly sacked from his job by Lambeth Serviceteam, a Croydon tribunal found.

He was 34 years old when he lost his job and the compensation covers loss of earnings until retirement. The sum is thought to be a record payout in a disability discrimination case.

The workers was one of 24 claimants for whom GMB brought employment tribunal claims for unfair dismissal. Total compensation awarded was more than £1.3m.

The claimants were all gardeners and maintained parks throughout the London Borough of Lambeth, including Clapham Common.

In total the group was awarded compensation of £1.3m.

The hearing was told that the employer had used a system for selecting personnel for redundancy which was weighted against disabled workers as it focused on the numbers of days of absence, and whether staff drove a car or not.

Richard Ascough, GMB regional secretary, said: "GMB is delighted at this substantial victory for our members who have been very shoddily treated by their employer after many years of loyal service."

Lambeth Serviceteam has since been bought by Veolia Environment Services Lambeth.