Their treatment left me paranoid

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), April 26, 2005

Former Nissan worker Alan Richardson says he has been left paranoid following his dispute with the car giant.

The 41-year-old is claiming unfair dismissal against the company at an employment tribunal and alleges he was sacked after saying senior managers deliberately let defective cars roll off the production line.

He told the hearing yesterday he is unable to trust people following his alleged treatment by the firm.

Mr Richardson, of Barrington Drive, Washington, said: "I think anyone who is in the situation I'm in would be made paranoid by the way Nissan has been doing things."

He accused the company of harassing him with frequent letters and a visit to his home.

Representing Nissan, John Cavanagh QC, said he had been deliberately obstructive by not allowing the company's doctor to check him over before his employment ended in June 2000.

He said he had further hindered the situation by not giving Nissan's doctor consent to contact his own GP so he could have access to some of his medical reports.

Mr Richardson replied he had not wanted to be seen by the firm's medical expert because he feared information about his health "would be leaked on to the shop floor".

The father-of-two has already told the Newcastle tribunal vehicles were produced with major safety problems.

These included "life-threatening" brake defects, as well as minor issues such as scratches to the paintwork and leaks.

He has also claimed malpractice was rife at the Sunderland plant with supervisors falsifying repair history documents.

Nissan has strongly denied all the claims and said Mr Richardson obstructed an investigation to find the potentially dangerous car by not passing on specific details of the vehicle with brake defects.

The case continues.