Officer withdraws claim of discrimination at Tribunal

A police officer who claimed he was moved by his bosses to “a punishment posting” 28 miles from his home after raising concerns about “inconsistent, dangerous or illegal practices” at a force’s driver training unit has abandoned his case at an Employment Tribunal.

Andy Holman claimed he was he was bullied and humiliated by his bosses at Humberside Police after informing them of alleged safety shortcuts at the unit training officers in skills including high-speed pursuits.

The Police Constable, from Hull, told an Employment Tribunal that he was transferred to a posting in Bridlington, the most remote of all the force’s stations, but Humberside Police disputed the claims, saying that they moved him after he was caught on a motorbike with a badly damaged tyre that could have caused an accident for the second time in 16 months.

Mr Homan, a training instructor at the time of the incident, admitted at the Tribunal in Hull he would have prosecuted drivers with similarly worn tyres in his previous role as a traffic officer.

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But the officer said the disciplinary action was only taken in March last year because of the health and safety issues he raised.

Mr Holman had originally taken the force to an Employment Tribunal after claiming that he had suffered discrimination as a result of the “public interest disclosures” he had made.

He alleged that safety checks were cancelled on vehicles in order to get training sessions underway earlier, plus assessments were cut short and lesson plans were “woefully out of date”.

The hearing had been due to reach a decision on 16 May 2013, but it ended early after Mr Holman withdrew his case against his employer.

Earlier in the hearing, Employment Tribunal Judge, Humphrey Forrest, told Mr Holman that he “faced difficulties in this case”, highlighting a lack of “hard evidence” of bullying.

David Hall, the force’s Training Manager, said in his statement to the Tribunal that “the situation relating to PC Holman was handled reasonably and fairly in all of the circumstances”.

Now that Mr Holman has withdrawn his claim, a Humberside Police spokeswoman stated that the force now considered the matter to be closed.

She said:

“Humberside Police have always been entirely satisfied that the decision taken to post PC Homan to a different department in Bridlington was a reasonable and proportionate management decision.”