Sous-chef, 40, who was the only seafarer to sue P&O Ferries for unfair dismissal after it suddenly sacked 800 staff wins ‘five-figure sum’
- P&O Ferries caused widespread outrage after suddenly sacking 800 workers
- All of the firm’s workers accepted a pay-off for what happened apart from one
- John Lansdown, 40, won an out-of-court settlement, believed to be five figures
- His six-month legal battle resulted in a higher settlement than pay-off offered
The only P&O Ferries seafarer to sue the firm after its sudden sacking of 800 staff has won an even higher financial settlement than the pay-off he was offered.
John Lansdown, 40, sued P&O on the grounds of unfair dismissal and has won an out-of-court settlement, believed to be in the five-figure region.
The firm paid a total of £36.5million to the workers it fired without notice after they were unexpectedly replaced with cheaper agency staff.
All of the workers apart from Mr Lansdown accepted the redundancy package, which depended on how long they had worked at the company but in turn signed away their right to take legal action against the company.
Reports at the time said that no worker would receive less than £15,000 while more than 40 were in line for compensation higher than £100,000.
But Mr Lansdown, a sous-chef from Kent on cross-Channel routes, refused as he would have taken no more than his £30,827 annual salary.
He first joined P&O Ferries as a 16-year-old trainee and was working on The Pride of Canterbury on the Dover to Calais route when he was sacked in March after 15 years at the company.
The long-term employee was marched off the ship and forced to leave his belongings behind when he was told ‘out of the blue and without any prior consultation’ about his instant sacking.
John Lansdown (pictured), 40, sued P&O on the grounds of unfair dismissal and has won an out-of-court settlement, believed to be in the five-figure region
P&O Ferries paid paid a total of £36.5million to the workers it fired without notice after they were unexpectedly with cheaper agency staff. Pictured: The Spirit of Britain ferry arriving at the Port of Dover
He alleges that private security staff, carrying handcuff and wearing balaclavas, were hired to remove workers who refused to leave the ferries.
Instead of accepting the pay-off like all of the other staff, he brought an employment tribunal claim against the firm for unfair dismissal, culminating in his momentous victory.
After a six-month legal battle, the company conceded that no consultation took place before Mr Lansdown was sacked and that he was in fact unfairly dismissed.
A slight catch from the settlement, however, is that Mr Lansdown agreed not to disclose the sum paid to him but it is understood to be substantially higher than the pay-off he refused.
Mr Lansdown is donating the money to the Sailors’ Children’s Society, which supports families across the UK.
Mr Lansdown (right) worked at P&O for 15 years before he was allegedly marched off the ship and had to leave his belongings behind
P&O workers pictured leaving the Port of Dover in March after 800 of them were suddenly sacked and replaced with cheaper agency staff
He said: ‘My legal claim was never about the money. It was about justice and holding P & O accountable when they thought they could just disregard the law.
‘I refused their unjust offer and rejected the gagging order that they demanded sacked workers sign up to back in March.
‘They were faced with an employment tribunal that they didn’t have any realistic prospect of winning, so effectively they’ve said ‘It’s a fair cop guv. Hands up. We unfairly dismissed you’.
‘This is a moral victory. It is hugely important, not just for myself but workers all across the UK.
‘They turned our lives upside down. This puts unscrupulous employers on notice that people aren’t going to take this lying down.
P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite (pictured) admitted the sudden sacking of 800 workers had been illegal buthe would make the same decision again if he had to
‘We will not carry on being treated like this, having our jobs taken from us without due process being followed.’
P&O, owned by the Dubai-based shipping giant DP World, replaced the mostly British workforce with agency staff.
Many of the agency staff drafted in to replace the current crew were paid less than the minimum wage thanks to a loophole in employment law.
DP World faced backlash in August after it raked in record half-year profits despite P&O’s sensational decision to fire 800 workers.
The company’s actions caused widespread outrage with political leaders and the Archbishop of Canterbury condemning it.
P&O Ferries boss Peter Hebblethwaite previously admitted to MPs that sacking 800 workers without notice or union consultation had broken the law but said he would make the same decision again if he had to.
At the time, he said that no union would have accepted the plan and it was easier to compensate workers ‘in full’ instead.
Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, is calling for the Insolvency Service to bring disqualification proceedings against P&O’s directors.
P&O Ferries were approached for comment.
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