An entrepreneurial firefighter who started his own business building hobbit houses – made famous in the Lord of Rings books and films – has found himself in a hole after losing an employment tribunal after he tried requesting to work part time.
The hobbit houses retailed at around £50,000 each.
Matt Wright said he was dismissed unfairly by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, after he quit his job following two unsuccessful requests to only work night shifts.
Stock Hobbit Home
Reuters
He joined the fire service in 2009 before starting a cat hotel business with his spouse in 2015, before going on to set up ‘Hobbit Homes Limited’ in 2017.
Following reported health concerns of his wife and the success of his two businesses, Mr Wright requested a discussion with his manager about being at a “crossroads”.
His first request to reduce hours at the fire service was made in 2017, prior to establishing the fantasy inspired hobbit hole housing company.
The fire service turned down this request
Mr Wright submitted a second application in 2019, however it failed after the fire service were unable to find a firefighter to share his hours.
Nottingham Post reports that Mr Wright was signed off sick with stress for a period of two months, before lenghty negotiations took place and a grievance was filed where he said he felt "feel victimised and unfairly treated".
He resigned in October 2019 due to "being subjected to unreasonable and unfair treatment".
At the tribunal, Mr Wright was unsuccessful in trying to sue for claims of detriment, victimisation, unfair dismissal and breach of contract.
Concluding, Judge Robert Clark said there was an "irony" in the case.
"Throughout this case, Mr Wright has insisted on calling his activities a 'hobby business'," he said.
"We take the view that that label is irrelevant save to the extent that it demonstrated to us that Mr Wright has sought to downplay the nature of this interest and activity.
"Despite Mr Wright's views of what he says it should have done, we have been satisfied that the service has responded favourably to his application to reduce his working hours.
