A high-ranking firefighter who resigned after being reprimanded for not stopping staff from saying “fireman” has lost his claim for unfair dismissal.
Simon Bailey, 58, oversaw a station when a female firefighter complained that she felt “undermined” by colleagues using the word “fireman”, which she said had been “dropped from political correctness in the 1980s”, reports The Sun.
The incident was brought to Simon’s attention and he admitted he never corrected people for using “firemen”, explaining that he was “old-fashioned”.
He was issued a written warning for failing to address colleagues’ language, reports The Sun.
That reprimand triggered a decline in his mental health – which ultimately resulted in him leaving the service.
He went on sick leave and later resigned after feeling his “world came crashing down”, reports The Sun.
Simon told The Sun: “When I received the disciplinary letter, I felt physically sick and devastated. I became a shell of myself”,
“This is not how I wanted my 27 years of service to end. I don’t tend to tell people I used to be a firefighter as I almost feel embarrassed because of the way I was treated”, reports The Sun.
“I have a letter of commendation from the chief, congratulating me on my service, but it’s just left in a drawer now”,
When he took the matter to an employment tribunal, it found that the action taken by his employer was fair and that he had not been wrongfully dismissed, reports The Sun.
The panel said his managers acted “reasonably” in disciplining Simon for not responding to Sasha’s concerns.
Simon served with Avon Fire & Rescue Service from October 1996 until he quit in September 2023 and had previously been praised for acts of bravery, reports The Sun.
One of the Fire Service’s stated values reads: “We are determined to ensure that no employee receives less favourable treatment through this policy on the grounds of sex gender re-assignment, age marital status, colour, race, culture, nationality or other ethnic or national origin, disability, sexual orientation, political or religious belief”,
In July 2021, an incident took place at the station involving a female firefighter and a male crew manager, reports The Sun.
The firefighter – former England rugby player Sasha Acheson – approached Simon to raise concerns about his behaviour.
The tribunal found that the manager had used a “slightly aggressive” tone and appeared “shaken” by the accusations, reports The Sun.
She said he had “treated her like a probie, not respected her, belittled her and put her down”.
Sasha reported: “The term fireman is used frequently and often on this watch and although I know this is terminology that should be outdated, it is an ongoing example of sexism in this brigade”,
“I have challenged the term fireman, with a smile and a groan, every time it is spoken, however, on one occasion a firefighter on my watch replied with ‘I will stop saying fireman when they stop specifically recruiting only firewomen’”, reports The Sun.
“That response shocked me hugely as the term fireman was removed from political correctness in the 1980s”,
Simon was later questioned during an investigation which concluded he should have corrected crew members using “fireman” instead of “firefighter”, reports The Sun.
In December, Sasha went on medical leave and did not return before her employment ended in May 2022 – when she filed a tribunal claim alleging discrimination and harassment.
Simon admitted he had never directly challenged anyone for using fireman rather than firefighter – though he said he might jokingly remark “you can’t say that”, reports The Sun.
He added that station language “is not squeaky clean all the time, but I think it is respectful”.
When asked about remarks on the watch, one colleague said: “Not malicious. There is banter with everyone”,
“When there are girls there – someone might make a joke, who is doing the dishes?” reports The Sun.
At Sasha’s hearing, Simon said: “I accept that, in hindsight, allowing the continued use of the term on watch has the potential to cause offence”,
“I have spent 25 years in AF&RS and I joined just after the transition from fireman to firefighter had taken place. Yet, since joining, the term ‘fireman’ has been endemic”, reports The Sun.
“It is embedded, not only in the fire service, but in society generally”,
Sasha won her case and was awarded more than £52,000.
Simon then faced a disciplinary panel in June 2023 for “failing to challenge inappropriate, stereotypical, demeaning and/or offensive comments” and was issued a final written warning for 12 months but kept his position, reports The Sun.
Following the warning, he took sick leave because he felt “humiliated” by the process and resigned later in 2023.
He brought his own case to a tribunal in Bristol in 2024, where it was decided he had not been unfairly dismissed, reports The Sun.
The judge has now confirmed that the sanction imposed on him was “reasonable”.
“I do not consider it a serious matter that the term ‘Fireman’ continued to be used on occasion on [Simon’s] watch”,
“As some of those interviewed said, it might be used by accident. I can see nothing problematic about the term being used to refer to a male firefighter”, reports The Sun.
“It was not sustainable for [Simon] to have asserted that he did not hear demeaning comments or that language used on his watch was respectful when it is clear that jokes that were demeaning and stereotyped women were made on the Watch for which he was responsible”,
“It is not probable that, when he conceded that there were jokey comments that were not squeaky clean, [Simon] was not referring to the jokes that played on old fashioned stereotypes based on sex, as recorded in Mrs Martin’s report and as reported by members of his watch”, reports The Sun.
“[Simon] clearly knew that there was such a culture”,
“It is clear to me that, in imposing the sanction that it did on [Simon], the Fire Service did not act in a way calculated to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence with [Simon]”, reports The Sun.
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