By Steph Johnson

Last updated 12:45, Friday, 25 July 2008

A Workington man has been paid undisclosed damages because his former bosses gave him a bad reference.

Strike threat: Sellafield

Edmund Nuttall Ltd said Michael Clements was ‘very dishonest’ with a ‘completely unacceptable’ sick record.

The firm also implied he had conned workmates out of £3,000.

The details were revealed in a High Court libel writ issued by Mr Clements’ lawyers Milburn Solicitors.

Mr Clements, of Salterbeck Road, had a temporary contract with Capita as a laundry worker at Sellafield.

But when his reference from Edmund Nuttall Ltd came through he was escorted off site.

Extracts from the reference stated: “He was claiming sick for 13 weeks yet was doing work at the same time. He was even accepting collections off his colleagues at the same time – approximately £3,000.”

When the referee was asked if he would re-employ Mr Clements, he stated ‘No!!’.

He also described Mr Clements’ good health as being ‘doubtful’.

According to the writ the reference had been late to arrive and when a Sellafield boss contacted Mr Clements’ former manager to chase it up he was told ‘with the comments I have put on here, he won’t get a job anywhere’.

Mr Clements was called into a meeting to have his employment terminated, he was then taken to change out of his work clothes before being led out of the building.

Mr Clements was unavailable for comment.

His wife told the News & Star he had settled out of court but been advised not to discuss the details.

Surrey based Edmund Nuttall confirmed the dispute had been resolved.

Human Resources director Pat Swift said: “We settled out of court recently, the matter is now closed and that’s all I can say.”

Mr Clements was claiming between £15,000 and £50,000 in damages.

In the writ his solicitors stated: “The claimant’s reputation has been seriously damaged and he has suffered hurt, distress and embarrassment.

“The reference was erroneous and malicious and completed solely with the intention of damaging the claimant’s reputation and/or career prospects.”

Mr Clements was also seeking an injunction to prevent Edmund Nuttall from publishing any such remarks about him in the future.

A spokeswoman for Capita said it was not company policy to speak about individual employees.