£79,878 for ‘unfairly sacked’ New Forest town clerk

A SACKED town clerk has been awarded nearly £80,000 of taxpayers’ money after a tribunal found his employers had unfairly dismissed him.

Andrew Rimmer was fired by Lymington and Pennington Town Council last October after several periods of sick leave following a heart attack.

But a tribunal ruled that the dismissal was unfair and ordered the authority to stump up for his past and future lost earnings.

Earlier, the tribunal was told how Mr Rimmer had been suffering from depression and anxiety that was so severe he could not even face opening letters from his bosses to discuss his absenteeism.

The tribunal had heard that his medication had left Mr Rimmer with a stammer and he could not face speaking on the phone.

He claimed that no-one attempted to contact him during his periods of illness and eventually he was dismissed following the formation of a sub-committee at the council.

Council chiefs claimed that services had started to suffer in his absence, including employees being overpaid and the council’s annual budget not being prepared.

In total the council was told it would have to pay £79,878, which included £14,978 in pay he had lost out on since being dismissed and £55,636 to compensate for future loss of earnings.