Bin man says dismissal for online posts was unfair

Paul French made repeated online comments about the ongoing bin dispute

Paul French, 50, worked for the council for 11 years, and said the council "trawled" through websites to spy on his conversations during the ongoing dispute.

At an employment tribunal yesterday, he admitted "attacking" the council but he insisted he did so not as an employee, but as a taxpayer of the city.

He sent a letter to the Evening News and was quoted in an article and he also left comments about the pay dispute online under the name 'Paul the bin man'.

Mr French initially denied that he was 'Paul the bin man' at a disciplinary hearing in March this year. But yesterday, he said he stood by everything he had written.

He was sacked for acting outwith the council's code of conduct, who said his online posts undermined the organisation, and caused him to commit gross misconduct.

The tribunal heard that Mr French had only set eyes on the council's code of conduct for the first time at the disciplinary hearing.

He said: "I still do not see anything wrong with the letter I wrote.

Now I know the boundaries that apply when talking about the council as an employee, I would not cross the line again - but I will keep blogging and commenting."

Mr French was suspended in August 2009, and claims he was unfairly dismissed, pointing out that his wife Janet - who also works for the city council - wrote a letter to a newspaper expressing some of the same views, but did not receive any punishment.

He is claiming sex discrimination and unfair dismissal because he believes he was treated more "unfavourably".

The father-of-two said: "I do not believe my misconduct would fall in the gross misconduct category - it should have been dealt with in another way, I should not have lost my job.

"I feel like they took away my freedom of speech, I did not realise I was being watched.

"I thought I was having private conversations with other people who were expressing their views about their employers.

"Anything I said online was already available to the public in newspaper articles and on the council's own website."

However, Christine Livingstone, appearing on behalf of the council, said: "Mr French was dismissed not only because of his letter, but because of hundreds of blog entries he wrote, some of which undermined officials within the council, and in particular, deputy leader Steve Cardownie."

She showed employment judge Joseph d'Inverno five different entries which all named Mr Cardownie - and two others which referred to someone called 'Stevie', which she believes to be the deputy leader.

One issue Mr French had commented on was information on the council's own website which said bin men were the biggest overtime earners - to which he replied that council officials were the ones claiming all the over time.

The tribunal also heard that Mr French has ditched his 'Paul the bin man' handle, but is still blogging and commenting under the name 'Sissero AD'.

He also denies being responsible for comments made after his dismissal by a username 'Not Paul the bin man', which said: "Step out of line and you will be struck off and you may be treated differently."

The hearing continues today.