Scots ambulance worker 'astounded' by actions of bosses after fight over £15 meal allowance ends in court
dailyrecord.co.ukA stressed out ambulance assistant was forced to take his bosses to court in a row over an unpaid £15 meal allowance. Gerald Paton, who has worked for the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) for more than 30 years, says they racked up months of legal bills before agreeing to pay up.Gerald lodged a case against his employer at Forfar Sheriff Court over expenses for three lunches.
The 56-year-old, from Brechin, Angus, said he was left “astounded” by the actions of his bosses and felt so let down that he ended up being off work sick for months.He said: “It has been extremely stressful having to chase money that I was entitled to.
I feel let down by them and by the fact I had to go down the avenue of taking them to court. From start to finish, the fight for £15 has taken up so much of my time off when it could have been sorted within 15 minutes.“I worked through Covid and you would think that after putting ourselves at risk in the face of the virus, our expenses that we are entitled to would have been paid within reasonable time.
It doesn’t make sense, they’ll appoint a solicitor that will cost thousands of pounds over a £15 lunch. I was off work for six months sick from the stress of it.”Gerald eventually settled the case out of court and was given £43 to cover his food bill and the cost of lodging his small claims action, but says it took nine months of court dates and mediation with SAS lawyers to bring an end to the dispute.
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