BOSSES of a company which laid off a Territorial Army (TA) soldier after his return from Afghanistan have defended their actions – and confirmed that he was not told of the decision by email.

Simon Sunderland has taken engineering firm Cummins to an industrial tribunal after he lost his job at the company’s Darlington factory.

During the recession, 440 members of staff lost their jobs at the Darlington plant, but union Unite, Mr Sunderland’s representatives, claim his job should have been saved under legislation protecting members of the TA.

However, Steve Nendick, a spokesman for Cummins, said last night: “Cummins stands by our position as set out in the case.

“The company has been through an extremely difficult time, losing more than 1,000 people in the UK and 440 in Darlington.

“Tough decisions have had to be made to safeguard the plant and its current employees.

“It is unfortunate that Mr Sunderland was affected by the necessary redundancies, but he was one of many employees who lost their jobs due to the recession.

“Cummins is a professional company that would never inform someone of redundancy by email.

“Mr Sunderland was informed in a face-to-face meeting on site.”

Monday’s tribunal at the Employment Tribunals Office, in Newcastle, heard that Cummins sought legal advice before taking the decision, and consulted the Support for Britain’s Reservists and Employers group (Sabre).

Mr Nendick said: “This being the first case of its kind, Cummins has taken legal advice along the way, and also consulted with Sabre.

“Sabre advised us to judge Mr Sunderland on exactly the same basis as any other employee.

“If we had given Mr Sunderland positive discrimination because of his position in the TA, we would have been open to legal action from other employees, particularly those with a better record than him.”

Mr Sunderland, a father of four from Linthorpe, in Middlesbrough, worked as a production operative at the plant before he was laid off.

Mike Routledge, of Unite, said last night: “We are challenging the legality of this through the tribunal, but we certainly believe it was immoral.”

Mr Sunderland said last night it was now up to the tribunal to decide the matter, but added: “Cummins might come out of this and win, but morally have they won? I think probably not.

“Do they look like they’re supporting Britain’s reservists?

“I’ll be going out on Remembrance Day, I can wear my medals with a bit of pride swagger and I can hold my head up high. I don’t think Cummins can do that.”

The tribunal decision is expected later this year.