Johannesburg - The City of Cape Town has been accused of acting immorally and arbitrarily by refusing to promote a firefighter who suffered permanent injuries at the workplace.
Adam Damons, who suffered life-changing injuries when he was dropped during a drill in 2010, is dragging his employer to the Constitutional Court over its insistence that it won’t promote him.
In papers filed at the Joburg-based apex court, Damons said that the metro did not change his firefighter rank after the accident.
He was first transferred to finance and billing, and then to the fire and life safety education section. But 11 years later, Damons remained with no prospects of career advancement. His applications for senior firefighter posts were declined based on his disability.
Damons sought to convince the Constitutional Court that the metro’s action constituted unfair discrimination.
“I submit that it is against good morals to prejudice someone injured permanently at the workplace, because of the negligence of the employer, by refusing him advancement opportunities when the very same establishment has seniors who are also disabled like the applicant,” advocate Zixolisile Feni, counsel for Damons, said in court papers.
Feni said public policy dictated that the metro should take responsibility after subjecting Damons to a permanent injury that threatened his livelihood.
In its papers prepared by Bradley Conradie Halton Cheadle, the city maintained that it acted in accordance with its Fire and Rescue Advancement Policy adopted in 2009. This policy stated that one must be physically fit to be considered for appointment as a firefighter, and subsequently for promotion.
The Star