I was once told that I had to attend an employment tribunal while I was stationed at Leeds in the deepest, darkest part of Yorkshire. I had never gone to one before, so I wasn't sure what to anticipate. So, I go up at the depot with Brian, the District Traffic Superintendent (DTS), a pleasant enough guy who was friendly enough but had no idea what he was getting himself into. We then proceeded to a sizable council building where the play was to be played. When I asked Brian about the background, he revealed that he had fired a driver for theft. Brian was also the senior member of the group.

A case for unjust dismissal would then be presented by the Trade Unions' lawyers (three of them!). Any witnesses needed would then be called in, sworn in on the Book of the Lord, instructed to prepare their testimony, and then subjected to cross-examination.

fantastic wheeze I believed it might be entertaining. So, we all enter, and to my amazement, the room is almost full. It was almost like a court, complete with a public gallery, the press, with only the paparazzi absent. I now felt quite uneasy, and Brian appeared to be going a little white.

The three judges enter, and we all rise as we would in a crown court before sitting down and beginning to listen to our man. The passengers all agreed that the driver had taken their money and handed them the tickets, he said, adding that the bus inspector had investigated the driver Mr. X after 3 passengers received tickets the day before. None of the passengers had seen the driver print the tickets from his ticket machine, so the tickets could only have been distributed by the driver. All he had done was hand them a ticket off his tray. This implied, of course, that he had chosen to pass over old tickets on purpose.