The Incident That Cost a Fire Chief His Job
A fire chief has received a £4,000 payout after being fired for throwing a disabled YouTuber’s phone over a hedge. John Linden, 53, was attempting to move blogger and self-styled journalist Jimmy Evans away from the scene of a fire when an altercation took place.
While filming content for his social media channel, Mr. Evans became ‘aggressive and obstructive’ and pushed his phone into Mr. Linden’s face—prompting the firefighter to ‘grab’ the device and hurl it over a hedge. Mr. Evans, who is disabled, uploaded the footage online and reported Mr. Linden, who was sacked after 32 years of service.
After winning an unfair dismissal case against Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, an employment tribunal has awarded Mr. Linden £3,938 and he is in line to receive more.
Background of the Case
The tribunal heard that in 2023, Mr. Linden became station manager based at King’s Lynn fire station, Norfolk. Mr. Evans—who runs a channel called Wheelz Media—was known to the fire department, and Mr. Linden knew him to be ‘challenging and abusive’.
Employment Judge Andrew Spencer said: ‘In recent years, [Mr. Linden] and his work colleagues have had to deal with self-proclaimed social media “auditors.” These individuals attend sites and public spaces to film emergency workers, often uploading the content to social media platforms. Some aim to generate online content by behaving aggressively and obstructively, seeking to capture negative responses with a view to posting this online. It is possible to monetise the results through social media channels such as YouTube.’
The Incident Unfolds
The incident between Mr. Linden and Mr. Evans occurred in June 2023. The tribunal was shown the video taken by Mr. Evans. Here, Mr. Linden was heard ‘politely and calmly’ asking the YouTuber to move back to a safer place. Mr. Evans, who was in a mobility scooter, refused, saying he was ‘legally allowed’ to be there and that it was ‘publicly accessible’.
The tribunal heard that when Mr. Linden suggested calling the police, Mr. Evans pushed his phone into the firefighter’s face and he ‘grabbed’ it from him. Mr. Linden was seen on the video walking off down the road and throwing the phone into the nearby hedge.
Mr. Evans complained about Mr. Linden’s behaviour to the Norfolk fire department and said that he was not able to find his phone, despite returning to the site with his girlfriend to look for it.
The Investigation and Dismissal
The chief fire officer told Mr. Evans that he would be compensated for the loss of his phone, a total of £300, and an internal investigation would take place. The investigation was conducted by Peter Rowe and in August 2023, Mr. Linden was sacked for gross misconduct.
Judge Spencer found there were procedural failures during the investigation that led to Mr. Linden being unfairly dismissed. He said the investigation needed to be more ‘rigorous’ for a potentially ‘career-ending decision’. Judge Spencer said that the police fire chief had directed Mr. Rowe not to interview members of the crew who could have been witnesses to the incident.
Referring to an email in which the fire chief made the request, the judge said: ‘This was inappropriate – it amounted to a clear instruction to Mr. Rowe not to interview potential witnesses to take statements from them.’ Judge Spencer was also critical because Mr. Evans was also not asked for the full footage of the incident. He said: ‘It was not difficult to infer from this that the footage may not show Mr. Evans in a positive light and might assist [Mr. Linden’s] case. This footage should have been requested.’
Aftermath and Reactions
It was ruled that the dismissal was unfair due to ‘so many procedural failures’. Mr. Linden lost claims of disability discrimination, failure to make accommodations, and breach of contract.
Speaking after the tribunal, Mr. Linden said he had lost ‘more than a job’ when he was sacked from the fire service. He said: ‘I had worked very hard throughout my career. I ended up having PTSD and I have faced a lot of aggressive people. That particular person had caused issues to us before and had caused issues to the police before. There was the aggression, just how dynamic it was. It was in a split second that he got aggressive with me and I lost a 32-year career.’
Mr. Linden claimed that Mr. Evans had threatened a colleague previously and he had made sure to notify his staff about it. He said that fire officers are not trained in how to deal with ‘difficult people’ and that the incident had a ‘profound effect’ and ‘shook him up’.
Mr. Linden continued: ‘I put so much into the force. I had done a lot of high-profile stuff, won several commendations. It is sad that I have been let down. It has affected me, it has affected my family. I don’t think I have had a good night’s sleep in two years really.’
Speaking after the tribunal, Mr. Evans said: ‘I know everyone is blaming me for him losing his job. But he made his mind up to take my phone and if you watch the video you will see the phone go over the edge.’
Mr. Linden has been awarded £3,938; however, a further compensation fee cannot be agreed yet and will be determined in the future.
