‘Old fashioned’ firefighter Simon Bailey, 58, who failed to call out his colleagues for ‘belittling’ a female colleague was not unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has found
Simon Bailey lost his unfair dismissal case after he failed to call out his colleagues for ‘belittling’ a female firefighter
An “old-fashioned” senior firefighter who failed to call out colleagues who ‘belittled’ a female colleague has lost his unfair dismissal case.
Simon Bailey, 58, who managed a station at the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, was given a written warning after failing to challenge crew members using the word “fireman” to Sasha Acheson. She argued the word had been obsolete since the 1980s.
Sasha, a former England rugby player, had gone to the watch manager for help to stop her colleagues’ ‘sexism’. She has claimed she was also called ‘a stick with tits’.
But her superior, with 30 years experience, failed to take action against them and was himself given a written warning.
Sasha Acheson was given a pay out after she was subject to offensive and demeaning comments during her time in the service
Mr Bailey was taken to a disciplinary hearing in June 2023 for “failing to challenge inappropriate, stereotypical, demeaning and/or offensive comments.” He was given a 12-month final written warning, but was not demoted.
After the warning, he took time off sick as he felt he had been “humiliated” by the proceedings and resigned in September 2023.
He took his case for unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal in July 2025 at Bristol magistrates’ court.
Sasha Acheson runs with the ball for England in a clash against Canada Women in 2013 (Image: Getty)
But a judge on Tuesday ruled his sanction was “reasonable”.
At Ms Acheson’s employment tribunal it was ruled in December 2023 she had been subject to “persistent” derogatory and offensive comments from two managers at the service.
She told the tribunal that the workplace culture at the service was openly misogynistic and discriminatory.
At Ms Acheson’s tribunal, Mr Bailey accepted the ‘fireman’ term had “the potential to cause offence”, but he said it was “embedded” in the fire service and society in general.
But Ms Acheson won her case and was granted more than £52,000.
In Mr Bailey’s case for unfair dismissal, the tribunal was told how in July 2021, there was an incident at an Avon Fire and Rescue Service station between a female firefighter and a male crew manager.
Sasha complained to Mr Bailey about her manager’s behaviour which had been “mildly aggressive” and had “belittled her and put her down”. She highlighted the use of the word ‘fireman’.
In a separate incident, she claimed she was described as a “stick with tits”, although Mr Bailey said he did not remember this.
She also said she complained about the “frequently” used term “fireman”, which she said was “outdated” and “an ongoing example of sexism in this brigade”.
Her complaint added: “I have challenged the term fireman, with a smile and a groan, every time it is spoken, however, on one occasion a firefighter on my watch replied with: ‘I will stop saying fireman when they stop specifically recruiting only firewomen.’”
In December 2021, Ms Acheson went on sick leave and did not return until her employment ended in May 2022 and when she submitted a claim for discrimination and harassment at an employment tribunal.
During an investigation into the incident, Mr Bailey said the term fireman was used “quite commonly, rightly or wrongly”.
He described the language in the station as being “not squeaky clean all the time’ but said it was “respectful”.
He said: “I’m old fashioned. I don’t use it, but I don’t see a problem. It’s pretty obvious to me that that term should not be used any more.”
He admitted not challenging his colleagues for saying fireman rather than firefighter, but he might joke that “you can’t say that”.
Mr Bailey had worked for Avon Fire and Rescue Service since October 1996 and was promoted to crew manager in 2007 and in 2013 became a watch manager.
Ruling he had not been unfairly dismissed, Employment Judge Richard Woodhead said: “It is clear to me that, in imposing the sanction that it did on (Mr Bailey), the Fire Service did not act in a way calculated to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of trust and confidence with (Mr Bailey).”
