Brewery ultimatum to Brown cow landlord sacked for smoking in bar (From York Press)

Brewery ultimatum to Brown cow landlord sacked for smoking in bar

10:20am Tuesday 3rd March 2009 in Search By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

THE York pub landlord who was sacked for smoking in his own bar – and now has to climb a scaffolding staircase to enter his flat through a window – has been told to leave by tomorrow afternoon.

But Paul Brown and his wife, Carol, say they have no intention of departing from the flat above the Brown Cow – even though they have now been told they are occupying it as trespassers.

Mr Brown said he needed time to find alternative work and accommodation elsewhere, and would not leave the pub in Hope Street, off Walmgate, until he had received back a £1,000 bond he had paid to Samuel Smith’s Brewery when he became manager two years ago.

The Press reported yesterday how Mr Brown was sacked for gross misconduct last week after being fined by a York licensing officer for smoking a cigarette in the bar, and he and Carol now had to enter their first-floor flat by climbing a temporary staircase and getting in through a window.

He said he had only lit up after closing the pub early one evening, having wrongly believed that smoking legislation did not apply in a shut pub. Enraged regulars have criticised his treatment.

The brewery has declined to make any comment, but the publican has now received a letter from its solicitors telling him that his right of occupation of the residential premises ended at the same time as his employment terminated last Wednesday.

The letter, from Cobbetts solicitors of Manchester, said he was required to immediately vacate the premises, taking with him all his personal belongings.

“You are therefore currently occupying the Brown Cow as trespassers, however our client will not take any action provided the premises are vacated by 5pm on Wednesday, March 4.”

The letter added that if they failed to leave, options included court proceedings, and the brewery would seek to recover the costs of such action from him.

Another letter received by the couple from a brewery area manager states that smoking by Mr Brown in a public place was classed as “irresponsible and also a serious breach of management conduct.”

It also criticised him for failing to inform the brewery of his fine, as he had had a duty to do. It added that council officers had visited the Brown Cow last February following reports that smoking was taking place in public areas. Although no breaches of legislation were found, Mr Brown had been given advice on his duties in a smoke-free premises and verbally warned about the consequences should any breach be found in the future.

The letter said that Mrs Brown was also being dismissed after the brewery had considered giving her another position within the company, such as a single manager at the Brown Cow. It added that the couple had the right of appeal against the decision.