A London bus driver was fired after performing a sex act on a woman on the backseat while in company uniform.

The off-duty driver was fired in April 2020 after performing oral sex on the woman on a route he normally drove on February 25 in front of other passengers.

The incident came to light in an employment tribunal ruling published on Thursday, which rejected his claims of discrimination over the sacking and ordered him to pay £7,500.

London South Employment Tribunal heard how it was reported to the bus company by a passenger who overheard “moaning” and noticed he was wearing a work jacket.

When confronted with footage, the married father told bosses: “I knew this would come back and bite me, I thought the CCTV would be deleted by now.”

In his defence, the unnamed driver told a fact-finding meeting that he may have been spiked after he went to the woman’s house, and that he was raped or sexually assaulted there.

However, employment judges said he had “no evidence at all” to support the claims, and that on his own testimony the alleged spiking would have taken place after he performed the sex act on the bus and so did not excuse his behaviour.

They questioned why he took a gift around to the woman’s house the following day, and later sought a supportive statement from her which he presented to his workplace in mitigation. They called it “unusual conduct in the circumstances”.

Employment Judge Self ruled: “The Claimant has asserted that it would not be reasonable to condemn his participation in that matter because he was the victim of involuntary intoxication.

“He has provided no evidence save for his assertion of that being so and indeed at the meeting asserted that he was not drugged until after the bus incident.”

He added: “We find that the Claimant sought to avoid the scrutiny on his activities by trying to put the blame on others by saying he had been drugged.”

The tribunal rejected his claims of unfair dismissal, and discrimination based on race, sex and marital status. It ordered him to pay £7,500 in costs for his “unreasonable conduct” in bringing the claims.

It also threw out his claims of unfairness over how the bus company responded to him using a mobile while driving a bus in a separate incident. An earlier claim for disability discrimination was rejected by both tribunal and the Court of Appeal.