Leighton Buzzard firefighter’s charity donation after taking on fire bosses at tribunal

A Leighton Buzzard firefighter awarded damages after a dispute with his employer is donating some of the cash to a local charity.

Pat Carberry challenged Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service over a dispute about time off as a trade union rep.

On March 24 he received a unanimous reserved judgement passed down by the Employment Tribunal in favour of his claim.

Pat has been a firefighter in Leighton Buzzard for 37 years and is also a Fire Brigades Union trade union rep who represents colleagues faced with allegations resulting in disciplinary action by the service.

As a trade union rep he had supported and acted as witness for a colleague accused of fraud and abuse of authority in 2018 and at his subsequent employment tribunal. But BF&RS rejected his request for two days off for the tribunal, saying he only needed one. The colleague’s case against the service was successful.

Pat then decided to challenge the decision of the service to interfere with his right to represent his colleague at tribunal and filed a further claim in relation to the service’s actions.

The employment tribunal convened February 20 and 21 in Watford and made a unanimous reserved judgement in favour of Pat.

The tribunal found: “In all of the circumstances, we concluded that the claimant should receive £123 in respect of the loss of a day’s holiday and £2,000 by way of reparation for the wrong done to him in that regard.

“The claim accordingly succeeds and the claimant is entitled to compensation in the sum of £2,123.”

Following the victory Pat said “This was never about monetary gain although I have been awarded compensation, this was a point of principle. The public quite rightly have a high expectation from those who serve as firefighters but also expect that they will be fairly treated when facing allegations resulting in disciplinary action.

"I have decided that the compensation should be used to assist those who help others. I have made an immediate pledge of £1,000 to the Leighton Linslade Helpers”.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue have been approached for comment.