India, March 18 -- A factory worker dismissed by Nestle after allegedly triggering a production shutdown by vaping in the washroom has been awarded £22,000 (around Rs.27 lakh) by an employment tribunal in the UK.

Luke Billings, a technical operator at the company's coffee facility in Tutbury, set off a fire alarm on October 11, 2023, leading to a full evacuation and halting production.

"All staff had to be evacuated. Production ceased until it was deemed safe to return. As a consequence there was disruption and lost production," the tribunal was told, according to a Daily Mail report.

An internal investigation, including CCTV review, concluded the alarm was triggered by vaping in a disabled toilet - an act strictly prohibited on s...