Sacked fire chief at Essex Fire Service given payout

A chief fire officer in Essex, UK, who was mysteriously sacked, has now been given a financial settlement, which remains undisclosed.
Back in April 2015, David Johnson was suspended as Essex’s chief fire officer, and – despite no reason being given – was sacked in April 2017.
Detailed figures haven’t been released thus far, but this dispute has cost the fire service over £500,000. Following a mediation hearing at the East London Employment Tribunal, the matter was settled.
The office of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex have stated that they won’t be revealing the financial elements of the settlement.
Commissioner Roger Hirst said: “We are pleased that we have been able to reach a conclusion to this case, recognising that it has taken judicial mediation, and that there is now a way forward for Mr Johnson that both parties can accept.”
In 2017, the fire service’s invoiced expenditure was revealed to show three entries in particular which raised eyebrows – one was for £365,480, one for £35,422 and the third for £15,000. All of these were paid to Essex County Council under “legal expenses”.
Subsequently, the fire service stated that all three payments were in relation to Mr Johnson’s case.
Previously, the service comforted that it had spent more than £100,000 on legal fees alone on the case between April 2015 and February 2016.
At the time, the secretary of the Essex branch of the FBU, Alan Chin-Shaw, claimed that the £1m spent on legal fees in 2017 would’ve been more than enough to fund a “whole-time fire station for a year”.
“My view is that if they have put themselves in a position where they need that much legal advice then chances are they are probably not doing right,” he said.
Essex County Fire and Rescue gave no reason for their sacking of Mr Johnson, while the fire authority then claimed that his dismissal “followed a robust process in compliance with the law in relation to statutory officers”.