Former care worker wins tribunal award

A former care worker has been awarded
£20,000 by an employment tribunal after claiming his life was
destroyed by allegations that he made obscene suggestions to a girl
in foster care.

Paul
Gillon, from Seaton Delaval in Northumberland, was sacked, put on a
sex offenders’ register and banned from working with children after
talking on the telephone with the girl.

He
told a Newcastle tribunal he suffered a nervous breakdown and was
on the brink of committing suicide following the
incident.

Gillon
was employed by St James Fostering and Adoption Service, in
Newcastle. His job involved liaising with foster parents but, four
years ago, he ran into problems after telephoning one of his foster
families.

Following a short conversation
with Gillon, the foster child, who had hearing problems, told her
foster mother that she thought he had made an obscene
comment.

As
well as being dismissed, he was put on the Department of Health’s
register banning him from working with children. His name has since
been removed.

Gillon
won his claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal last
year but it has taken six months for the award to be
decided.

In a
report, the tribunal chairperson described Gillon’s suspension as a
“knee-jerk” reaction.