Firefighter was wrongly sacked after saying girl he rescued ‘seemed haggard for her age’

A senior firefighter was wrongly sacked after saying a woman who he rescued ‘looked haggard for her age’, an employment tribunal has ruled. 

Pete Langton was fired by Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for making ‘misogynistic and sexist’ comments about the woman after pulling her from a blaze.

The Crew Commander (CC) told a meeting in December 2022 that the casualty, who was not named, looked ‘bad’ and ‘haggard for her age’, sparking complaints from female colleagues. 

CC Langton was said to have also used the phrase ‘pull a pig’ – a reference to a crude game played by men on nights out in which they hook up with unattractive women. 

Anna Ditta, a Community Safety Coordinator in the fire crew’s prevention department, later told him to stop, claiming there was ‘no banter’ that could have encouraged the comments. 

She claimed CC Langton had been ‘disrespectful’ in how he spoke about the woman and had not apologised afterwards. 

He was accused of making other female colleagues ‘notably upset’ with his remarks and was dismissed by Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.

But Watford Employment Tribunal found CC Langton was unfairly dismissed as the investigation into his alleged misconduct had a ‘lack of precision’ and there was not a ‘clear finding’ about his behaviour.

A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service firefighter has won an unfair dismissal case after he was fired for saying a woman who he rescued ‘looked haggard for her age’. Pictured: Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters

CC Langton started working for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service as a part-time firefighter, but he became full-time in 2006.

He was promoted to crew commander in 2020, and he was working at Gerrards Cross Fire Station.

In December 2022, CC Langton was talking in a meeting, which included his watch and also two civilian employees.

Ms Ditta complained after the meeting about his conduct, saying he made ‘misogynistic’ and ‘sexualised’ comments.

CC Langton said he had made the remarks ‘in jest’ as an ‘off-the-cuff comment’ and that he never intended to offend anyone at the meeting.

He said he had made a comment like ‘one you would make about a woman in a club or a night out’.

He said they were talking about the incident and Ms Ditta had asked him whether the woman was his type.

CC Langton said he believed it was a more informal meeting, and this led to his comment. He said he used the term ‘pull a pig’, which was ‘commonly used back in the day’.

He said that Ms Ditta had told him to stop, and he replied saying: ‘No it wasn’t very nice, but I’m sure that you have the same for the men that are left alone at the end of the night.’

 CC Langton started working for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service as a part-time firefighter, but he became full-time in 2006. Pictured: A Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service fire truck

At the start of the investigation into CC Langton’s conduct, he was suspended. He was then fired after a disciplinary meeting that had taken into account the incident and also previous misconduct.

This stated that he had fallen asleep during a presentation, been ‘rude and aggressive’ to another employee and had not performed his role with ‘sufficient attention’.

Employment Judge James Dick said CC Langton was sacked unfairly on technical grounds because the fire service took account of ‘irrelevant factors’.

Judge Dick also said CC Langton had no history of similar behaviour.

Judge Dick said: ‘[The fire service] also overstated the gravity of the misconduct by erroneously taking into account what criminal lawyers would call an aggravating feature (or the absence of a mitigating feature), namely that [his] behaviour was not isolated when in fact he had never done anything remotely similar.’

Judge Dick said the investigation had a ‘lack of precision’ about what it found that CC Langton had actually said and there was not a ‘clear finding’.

The investigation merely used the words ‘sexualised and misogynistic’ comments, which do not show the ‘gravity’ of the comments used, the judge said.

The judge also found it was likely the ‘pull a pig’ comment was not said directly about the women, however the fire service wrongly assumed it was.

CC Langton is now in line for compensation for unfair dismissal.