Former employee claims in employment tribunal that his dismissal by company was 鈥渂reach of contract鈥

A four-day employment tribunal in which Balfour Beatty is accused of wrongfully dismissing a blacklisted worker started today in London.

Mick Dooley, who ran for election as Ucatt general secretary last year, claims that Balfour Beatty dismissed him from a site in Victoria, central London, in 1993, because of information about him that was held on a blacklist. He is claiming 拢35,000 plus damages in a claim described by the employment tribunal as 鈥渂reach of contract鈥.

The claim will be the first since an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office, which uncovered a database had been set up for contractors to vet workers' backgrounds. A total of 14 firms were issued enforcement notices for subscribing to the database. Its owner, Ian Kerr, was fined 拢5,000.