Firefighter wins unfair dismissal claim after being sacked for saying woman he rescued looked 'haggard for her age'

Pete Langton was sacked from of Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for making the so-called "misogynistic and sexist" comments about the 30-year-old female he had pulled from a blaze.

The Crew Commander told a meeting in December 2022 following the rescue that the casualty looked "bad" and "haggard for her age," which prompted upset responses from female colleagues.

He was subsequently referred to management by Anna Ditta, the brigade's community safety co-ordinator, who said the remarks were "misogynistic” and “sexualised."

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But a tribunal hearing has now ruled that staff had "overstated the gravity of the misconduct," by incorrectly saying that his behaviour was "not isolated."

Ms Ditta claimed three other people present at the meeting said Mr Langton made "disrespectful comments" about the woman, which led to female colleagues becoming "notably upset."

A disciplinary meeting was held and Mr Langton was sacked over the comments. The hearing also brought up other alleged incidents including that he had fallen asleep during a presentation and had been "rude and aggressive" to another employee.

But following an appeal, Watford Employment Tribunal found Mr Langton was unfairly dismissed as the investigation into his alleged misconduct had a "lack of precision" and there was not a "clear finding" about his behaviour.

Mr Langton described his comment as "off-the-cuff" and claimed it was "in jest."

He was also said to have used the term "pull a pig" in the meeting - a crude term referring to men who try to hook up with women they find unattractive.

In response, he said this was "commonly used back in the day" and argued the meeting with Ms Ditta was informal.

Employment Judge James Dick ruled in Mr Langton's favour and said he had shown no history of similar behaviour.

The judge said: "[The fire service] also overstated the gravity of the misconduct by erroneously taking into account what criminal lawyers would call an aggravating feature (or the absence of a mitigating feature), namely that [his] behaviour was not isolated when in fact he had never done anything remotely similar."

He added that he found it was likely the "pull a pig" comment was not said directly about the woman involved.