A DISABLED warehouse worker who sued his Birmingham employer for unfair dismissal after claiming he was bullied by colleagues has lost his fight for compensation.

David Fletcher, of Yardley, Birmingham, who suffers from diabetes and kidney failure, lost his job with Map UK Ltd, a major contractor for Virgin Media, in the summer of 2009.

Mr Fletcher, aged 35, claimed he was the only store worker at the Small Heath site to lose his job and took his case to an employment tribunal alleging unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.

But in a reserved judgment the tribunal rejected Mr Fletcher’s claims “in their entirety” after hearing that the company said he had refused reinstatement following an appeal against redundancy.

David’s wife Fiona said prior to the tribunal: “David was the only store person to be made redundant. He had had problems with his eyesight, but had very little time off sick.

“They knew from day one that he was disabled, but we believe that it was only when he told them that he had renal failure that they acted.

“He had had the odd day off for eye surgery, but he used that as his holiday. We believe he was treated very unfairly. This caused us a massive amount of stress.”

But rejecting Mr Fletcher’s claims outright, the tribunal’s judgment said: “The respondent (Map UK) contends there was no dismissal at all; because he was reinstated by the respondent as part of his appeal process.

“He was requested to return to work on Tuesday, August 4, but he refused reinstatement and subsequently presented an ET1 (employment tribunal) on September 28, 2009.”

Mr Fletcher had claimed he had “long been the victim of discrimination and harassment because of his disability, perpetrated by his work colleagues.”

But the tribunal ruled: “We do not accept that the case can be put in that way. The claimant is a disabled person, but he has not proven discrimination. We therefore dismiss the claimant’s claims in their entirety.” Mr Fletcher could not be contacted for further comment.