A UNION official who spent his career fighting for justice for Barrow shipyard workers has won his own battle against his employer after he was unfairly dismissed.

Stephen Forbes was the secretary of the GMB union in Barrow when he suffered a spinal injury and stroke in February 2016. He had worked for the GMB since April 2000.

Mr Forbes, who was based at the union's Hartington Street offices at the time, slipped while getting into a vehicle in Ulverston and he lost the feeling in his arms and legs.

He was initially taken to Furness General Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Preston Hospital for spinal surgery and then the North West Regional Spinal Injuries Centre in Southport for rehabilitation.

In the subsequent months Mr Forbes was invited to a number of sickness absence reviews in which he expressed a desire to return to work.

The reviews were carried out by Joan Anderson, a senior organiser for GMB Northern region who is also the partner of regional secretary Billy Coates, and Bill Moran, a regional health and safety and human resources officer.

However, despite showing significant progress in his rehabilitation Mr Forbes was dismissed in August 2017 and launched employment tribunal proceedings against the GMB.

Following a four-day hearing last month, the employment tribunal found Mr Forbes had shown a will to return to work and had been dismissed unfairly, and upheld a complaint of discrimination arising from disability.

The tribunal, led by employment judge Hilary Slater, had heard that Ms Anderson thought his work to recruit new members, which involved working in the shipyard, was high risk and presented a “major health concern”.

Daniel Dyal, GMB’s lawyer, said the union believed Mr Forbes was unfit for work and interim cover arrangements were unsustainable.

Judge Slater said: “We do not doubt the sincerity of the concerns held by Ms Anderson and Mr Moran but consider that they made assumptions about what the claimant would have difficulty with and consequent risks, without having proper medical information on which to base that assessment.”

The judge dismissed claims that Mr Forbes had been fired because he was disabled but said the complaint of discrimination arising from a disability was well-founded.

The former union official is well-known in Barrow having served as chairman of the The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions in Barrow and is a former Labour Barrow Borough councillor for Ormsgill.

A further remedy hearing will be held at the employment tribunal on April 24 and 25. This will allow Mr Forbes to show evidence of loss and to set out what is being claimed.

The Mail contacted the GMB for a comment.