{"id":34151,"date":"2026-03-18T04:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/34151\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T04:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:20:14","slug":"worker-sacked-after-setting-off-fire-alarm-and-forcing-nestle-factory-to-be-evacuated-by-vaping-in-the-toilets-wins-22000-payout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/34151\/","title":{"rendered":"Worker sacked after setting off fire alarm and forcing Nestle factory to be evacuated ‘by vaping in the toilets’ wins \u00a322,000 payout"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Nestle factory worker who was sacked after triggering a full production shutdown by allegedly vaping in a disabled toilet has won a \u00a322,000 payout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luke Billings set off the fire alarm at the food giant’s facility in Tutbury, Staffordshire, in October 2023, triggering a full evacuation and halting work on the factory floor.<\/p>\n

The technical operator, who had worked at the factory for more than a decade, initially told bosses\u00a0he did not vape when they confronted him with CCTV footage of him slipping into the bathroom to smoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he later conceded under questioning at an internal disciplinary hearing that he did in fact use e-cigarettes, but only at home and on weekends.<\/p>\n

Mr Billings, who never admitted vaping in the toilet, was dismissed for gross misconduct.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he has now walked away with \u00a322,216.72 after a Nottingham<\/a> employment tribunal ruled Nestle had no right to sack him for lying.<\/p>\n

The panel heard the employee, who had worked at the coffee factory since 2012, set off the fire alarm on October 11, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It noted: ‘All staff had to be evacuated. Production ceased until it was deemed safe to return. As a consequence there was disruption and lost production.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Luke <\/p>\n

Luke Billings (pictured at work on the site in 2013) set off the fire alarm at the food giant’s facility in Tutbury, Staffordshire, in October 2023, triggering a full evacuation and halting work on the factory floor<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The technical operator initially told bosses he did not vape when they confronted him with CCTV footage of him slipping into the bathroom to smoke<\/p>\n

An internal investigation reviewing CCTV footage found it was caused by Mr Billings vaping in the disabled toilet. Any kind of smoking is forbidden on the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when confronted by his employer, the panel said: ‘The Claimant maintained his position that he was not vaping in the toilets on the day in question.<\/p>\n

‘He said he did not vape so it could not be him.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was only as questioning progressed that he ‘accepted that he did occasionally vape but only at weekends and only at home’, the panel added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But despite this, Nestle’s disciplinary officer decided to dismiss the employee, for a series of reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tribunal heard: ‘Firstly, he considered a breach of health and safety. Secondly, he lost trust and confidence in the Claimant because he believed he was lying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Thirdly, there was a loss of production to the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘He concluded that the Claimant having been employed for a long time in the business ought to have known better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘The Claimant appealed but the appeal was dismissed.’<\/p>\n

Mr Billings hauled the company before an employment tribunal, bringing claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.<\/p>\n

He was on a phased return to full-time work at the time after a year’s sick leave for depression, from June 2022 to August 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The employee argued he would not have been sacked if this was not the case.<\/p>\n

He pointed to a colleague who had stored a ‘washbag of clothing’ in ‘a housing area that is used to enclose a fire hose’ instead of a locker, the tribunal heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This other worker admitted this was a health and safety risk, apologised and was given a final written warning at another hearing just before Mr Billings’s.<\/p>\n

Mr Billings said this staff member was in ‘a comparable situation’ but was not sacked – arguing this showed he was ‘treated inconsistently’ for his disability of depression.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Nestle’s disciplinary officer said had he similarly ‘accepted his mistake and apologised’, he would have avoided dismissal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"But <\/p>\n

But the worker (pictured) later conceded under questioning at an internal disciplinary hearing that he did in fact use e-cigarettes, but only at home and on weekends<\/p>\n

The panel agreed: ‘The less favourable treatment was not because of the Claimant’s disability but because he did not admit his culpability and\/or apologise.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

It added: ‘The reason for dismissal had nothing to do with the Claimant’s disability.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

His disability discrimination claim was therefore thrown out – but his allegation of unfair dismissal was upheld.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This was because ‘the decision to dismiss fell outside the range of reasonable responses open to a reasonable employer’, the tribunal heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The panel noted: ‘[The disciplinary officer] made it clear in his evidence that had the Claimant accepted he had been vaping in the toilet, and apologised, he would not have been dismissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘In other words, health and safety and loss of production were not the principal reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘They played a lesser part in the decision to dismiss because they were not determinative. What was determinative was the failure to accept responsibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Failing to apologise or to accept responsibility is not misconduct.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also concluded sacking Mr Billings was ‘disproportionate’, after ‘a single isolated act’ in an otherwise ‘unblemished career’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nestle has now been ordered to pay him compensation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On top of a basic award, he was reimbursed for the earnings he lost that he was set to accrue by date he was set to return full-time, in November 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sum also took into account his loss of pension benefits and statutory rights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tribunal heard the figure was half what it otherwise would have been, as ‘the Claimant has contributed to his dismissal’ and was ‘equally to blame’ for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Nestle factory worker who was sacked after triggering a full production shutdown by allegedly vaping in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[1255,199,1202,20203],"class_list":{"0":"post-34151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nestle","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-nestle","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-nottingham"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116248262838880207","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}