Yahoo News Bus driver sacked for positive cocaine test awarded £40k as tribunal agrees drug came from students' notes
A bus driver who was sacked for testing positive for cocaine has been awarded £40,000 after a tribunal ruled the drug could have got into his system when he licked his fingers after accepting notes from students.
Kenneth Ball, 62, who suffers from type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure, worked as a driver for First Group in Essex for more than 20 years.
In June last year, a random drugs test showed that he had traces of the Class A drug in his saliva. In a bid to prove his innocence, he submitted a hair follicle test that showed no trace of cocaine, but it was dismissed as evidence by the bus company.
At East London Employment Court, Mr Ball was awarded more than £37,000 as an employment judge agreed that he could have tested positive after handling contaminated bank notes. The tribunal heard how four out of five bank notes can test positive for traces of cocaine, according to experts.
The tribunal heard that the former bus driver would often lick his sore fingers at the wheel because he had to prick them with needles every two hours to monitor his blood sugar levels.
Mr Ball told the court the test test for his diabetes would cause his fingers to bleed, and that he would lick them to relieve the pain.
The judge said First Essex had "closed their minds" to considering any other explanations as to why their employee had tested positive.
As a man in his 60s with type 2 diabetes and hypertension, Mr Ball said it would have been "reckless" for him to take cocaine as it could lead to heart problems and a stroke.
It was said Mr Ball paid for two hair samples to prove his innocence. One was taken a few days after the drug test, and the other a few months afterwards.
They had both tested negative for cocaine but the bus company rejected them during disciplinary proceedings.
At a meeting in July last year, Phil Sage, a staff manager at the Basildon branch of First, told Mr Ball the hair follicle results would not be accepted by their employers.
During his initial disciplinary hearing itself, a line manager claimed he was told by his general manager Steve Leonard: "Do not get embroiled in a discussion about the hair follicle test - our procedures do not allow for it, and we have followed and will continue to follow our procedures"
The former bus driver - who now makes a living cleaning caravans - was awarded £37,639 as compensation for loss of earnings and other expenses including the hair follicle tests.
Employment Judge Gary Tobin sitting at Stratford Employment Tribunal in east London said: "The respondent had no other reason to believe that the claimant had been on duty under the influence of cocaine and the claimant's behaviour whilst on duty or at the time of the test, his demeanour, good character, longevity of service, exemplary service, age and health condition were all contra-indicators.
"The claimant had clearly failed the drug test, however thereafter the dismissing officer and two appeal officers took the result of the random drug tests to indicate that the claimant had taken an illegal drug, specifically cocaine.
"They closed their minds to all possible explanations that did not fit this predetermined conclusion.
"Although there was nothing in the Drug and Alcohol Policy that stated other tests should be considered, there was nothing within the procedures that stopped the respondent from considering evidence that came from outside the company.
"So far as the Disciplinary Policy and Procedures were concerned, there was a positive obligation on the respondent to consider all aspects of the claimant's case."
Mr Ball, from Canvey Island, Essex, said: "It's been a terrible ordeal. I can never forgive them."
Speaking for Unite, regional secretary Peter Kavanagh said: "First Essex Buses cruelly plunged Mr Ball into a living nightmare after they disgracefully and wrongly sacked him.
"Managers refused to accept two additional, more reliable tests nor did they publically acknowledge the implausible nature of Mr Ball's guilt even though they privately acknowledged this possibility in communications."
The Telegraph has contacted First for a comment, but nobody was immediately available.
