'They just kicked me when I was down' — Dundee driver wins £16,700 claim for unfair dismissal

A former bus driver who crashed into a parked car in the city centre says he feels vindicated after an employment tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed by National Express Dundee. The company now has to pay more than £16,700 to Graeme Brannan after the tribunal ruled they did not properly investigate the circumstances into why his vehicle ploughed into a parked car in Crichton Street, causing further damage to two vans.  
Mr Brannan was praised at the time for managing to avert injury or further catastrophe to more than 30 passengers on his bus. But he was then blamed for the accident by the company and sacked, despite an independent investigator deciding the bus's throttle had stuck. The company's own investigation ruled Mr Brannan had been at fault and dismissed him.   
Following the tribunal's judgment, Mr Brannan said he felt he had been badly let down by the company. ''They didn't give a monkey's about me. I saved between 30 and 40 passengers from injury — nobody was hurt at all and the passengers thanked me," he told The Courier. ''They asked how I was and so did the police, but nobody from National Express asked me how I was. ''I was in shock but I wasn't given any counselling or anything and they just kicked me when I was down. My mother died from cancer three days after they sacked me.'' http://www.thecourier.co.uk