Man tries to pull a sickie - but is fired after being caught having a pint at an airport

A manager who pulled a sickie to go on holiday was caught out by a picture of him drinking a pint at the airport.

Ross Collins was caught when his girlfriend posted a photo of him at Gatwick Airport drinking a beer after he got his dates for a holiday in Cyprus mixed up and booked the wrong annual leave.

A Watford tribunal heard how he conducted the scheme in 2018, after he realised he had booked leave to start a day later than his flight, by faking an “upset stomach”. He reportedly told supervisors he “felt unwell” and was seen “rubbing his stomach” and asking other members of staff for painkillers. He also claimed he needed to go home to check on his pregnant partner who was also “unwell”.

Collins, who worked at STERIS Instrument Management Service as a workshop supervisor in Hertfordshire, lost his unfair dismissal claim and has been sacked for gross misconduct.

He argued he had overtime to take and never questioned colleagues who “left work to watch a football game”.

Employment judge Stephen Bedeau said: “[The tribunal is] satisfied that the reason why [Collins] was dismissed was that he had lied to [his employers] as to the reason for him leaving on 18 October 2018.

“[Collins] had initially booked his flight to start from 18 October 2018, the day he had not booked as holiday.

“There was every reason to believe that because of the pressure on him and his partner to arrive at the airport in time, he left work on 18 October late morning.”

Oh dear.