A bus driver who was sacked after a passenger said she saw him defecating near a supermarket has denied the claim at an employment tribunal. Pargat Singh, 63, from Coventry, is claiming unfair dismissal by Travel West Midlands.
Mr Singh, a Sikh, claims the complaint in October was motivated by racism. He admits he went behind a wall to urinate but did not know he was being observed. The firm said his account still made him guilty of gross misconduct.
Travel West Midlands' staff performance manager Jyoti Kapoor told the tribunal in Birmingham a customer had claimed the driver had committed "an act of gross indecency" near a Tesco store close to Coventry's Ricoh Arena on 3 October last year.
The woman, who refused to give her first name or contact details, alleged he had climbed over a picket fence and defecated on a grass verge. The passenger said he then wiped his hands on the bars of the fence before returning to his bus.
Mrs Kapoor also said the passenger claimed Mr Singh was abusive to her. "I considered that the passenger complaint was credible," she said. "He - Singh - accepted that the passenger had challenged him about washing his hands when he returned to the vehicle.
"Had driver Singh said the passenger was wrong or that she was lying then my approach would have been different." She said even if his employer believed his account of events he was still guilty of gross misconduct. "I considered that it would have been reasonable for driver Singh to have used the Tesco toilets, which were very close," she said. Mr Singh is being backed by the Unite trade union in his case.
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