Disabled cleaner claims Basildon Council boss is ‘biased’

A one-armed cleaner who “makes any room sparkle” has hit out after being fired from one of his jobs.

Daniel Jeffery, 47, worked as a window fitter before a motorcycle accident in 1999 forced doctors to amputate his right arm.

The married father of three then changed jobs and started working as a cleaner.

He did so well that he came third out of 4,000 cleaners in an industry competition in 2000, reports The Sun.

During the pandemic, Daniel worked eight-hour shifts disinfecting buildings for £9.50 an hour.

While working for Pinnacle Group he was tasked with cleaning offices and public buildings for Basildon Council.

But a council manager reportedly said Daniel’s work was not up to par and he was sacked.

He believes things went wrong for him because a certain manager on the council “just developed a dislike for him”.

The unnamed woman reportedly called him “Bandit” and everyone else ended up doing the same.

“I thought it was affectionate at first – but she clearly took the p***,” Daniel said.

The cleaner, from Southend in Essex, claims this manager “deliberately” failed his inspection because “there had never been any problems with his job before”.

The council is said to have written a letter to Pinnacle about Daniel’s cleansing, demanding that he be removed from the job.

But the company didn’t fire him and instead hired him to work in London.

Daniel said: “It’s just completely unfair. In the past there have never been such complaints about my work.

“It’s just a woman who’s prejudiced because I only have one arm.”

Basildon Council said: “We have a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and take these allegations very seriously.

“We will fully investigate the allegations made by the person and respond accordingly.”

Pinnacle declined to comment.

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