A firefighter was unfairly dismissed from his union job after speaking at a pro-Brexit rally in Westminster. The Union had accused Paul Embery of enabling ‘the far-right’ and bringing them into disrepute.
Embery was also barred from being a Fire Brigades Union (FBU) official for two years after appearing at the Leave Means Leave rally in March 2019.
Norwich Employment Tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed after a “witch hunt” with a pre-determined outcome.
The FBU said it was disappointed with the findings and that it was assessing its options.
Mr Embery, a prominent left-leaning political activist and writer, was employed by the London Fire Brigade but released to conduct union duties as a full-time regional official in the capital between 2008 and 2019.
During a three-day hearing in February the union argued Mr Embery displayed gross misconduct in his role.
Paul Embery said in response to the verditc: “While I am glad that, after two years, justice has finally been served, I take no pleasure in the outcome. It was an honour to serve as an FBU official for 20 years, and I remain to this day a proud member of the union.”
An FBU spokesperson said: “We are disappointed with the findings and we do not agree with the decision. However, we have only recently received it and are still considering the matter. We are assessing our options for next steps.”
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
