An ambulance driver has been awarded more than £22,000 after he was sacked for punching a drunken man who threatened him.
Mark Harvie believed he was about to be head-butted and struck his potential assailant.
An employment tribunal heard the 61-year-old ‘feared attack’ by the man who was swearing at him and telling him ‘you are not so big now’ when he tried to walk away from the situation.
He was reported for assault and sacked after 23 years’ unblemished service for not upholding the values of the NHS.
‘Fear’: Mark Harvie has been awarded more than £22,000
But the tribunal has now ruled he acted in self-defence and should not have been dismissed, awarding him £22,400 in compensation.
The Inverness hearing was told that on January 25, 2022, Mr Harvie arrived at the city’s Raigmore Hospital having collected a man who had fallen over in a bar.
Mr Harvie walked into the emergency department and, on the way in, passed a man who was ‘slumped over a wall’. The tribunal heard the man’s leg was blocking access so Mr Harvie asked the man if he could go and get a seat.
The man started swearing and shouting abuse. He allegedly drew his head back in a manner which made Mr Harvie think he was about to head-butt him.
He put his left forearm up to block and in doing so, struck the man with a short punch.
The police later charged Mr Harvie with assault. The following day, he was informed he was suspended on full pay.
In July 2022, he was dismissed for not taking an ‘alternative course of action’.
But the case against him was withdrawn by the procurator fiscal who said CCTV ‘clearly showed [Mr Harvie] had been acting in self-defence’.
Mr Harvie sued the Scottish Ambulance Service Board for unfair dismissal and the tribunal found the lack of evidence meant dismissal was unfair.
Employment judge Sandy Kemp said: ‘In our view all reasonable employers would consider that such a situation cannot properly be regarded as an assault.’
The Scottish Ambulance Service said: ‘We note the judgment of the tribunal.’
Content source – www.soundhealthandlastingwealth.com
