The words of those involved in the case, and their respective legal representatives, were heard by Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission last week.
As reported by the Irish Independent, the lorry driver defecated on the loading bay of one of his former employer’s clients, Cork-based Flextronics.
The boss of the haulage firm who fired the trucker is said to have told the commission that the act was akin to taking a dump “at the front door of your house”. The lorry driver admitted to the act, but claims he had no option but “to go under the truck” due to his severe stomach pain and the fact there was no toilet nearby.
The trucker was diagnosed with a peptic ulcer, but thanks to medication and giving up smoking, the truck driver says his condition had improved until September of last year.
It was claimed that the nearest toilet was a minute to a minute and half away from the loading bay on foot. The 72-year-old driver told the tribunal that he “couldn’t have lasted ten seconds”. A doctor’s note was even presented by the driver’s legal team in order to support his case.
However, the defence sought to reject claims the driver was suffering from diarrhoea – asking the driver why one of his colleagues had seen “solid” feces lying on the loading bay.
“One of the lads said ‘what’s stuck to the timber’? I saw there was excrement on it and I just picked it up. With that the Flex employee said he’d have to report it to health and safety. I went into the toilet to wash my hands,” said the former colleague of the complainant.
The driver was also asked why he hadn’t cleaned up after his supposed bowel malfunction. He claimed that there was a thunderstorm at the time, that his excrement couldn’t be picked up, and would likely be washed away anyway in the rain.
“I couldn’t pick that up with tissues, in fairness, in a thunderstorm,” the driver is quoted as saying by the Irish Independent.
The truly bizarre hearing then saw further discussion on the consistency of the feces left by the driver. The other trucker who reported seeing the excrement was asked if it was similar to mashed potato. She replied: “suppose it would, yes”.
Following the incident, the trucker’s hours were cut dramatically, something his barrister suggested was effectively an undeclared suspension.
In response, the haulier said that the reduced hours and dismissal were not down to the driver defecating, but rather not cleaning his mess up or reporting it. The company also rejected allegations of discrimination, stating that it had employed the driver at the age of 70. In addition, the firm said that its former driver had not declared any of the aforementioned medical issues in the medical forms he had signed.
A verdict on the matter is to be delivered in due course by adjudicating officer Ewa Sobanska, who will inform the parties of the outcome in writing.