Sick leave shark wrestler Paul Marshallsea sacked

[Jazzy]

A charity worker has been sacked after his bosses saw footage of him wrestling a shark in Australia while he was on sick leave for stress.



Paul Marshallsea, 62, from Merthyr Tydfil, grabbed the shark by the tail as it swam towards children and dragged it to deeper water off Bulcock Beach.



His story made headlines across the world and lifeguards praised him.



He has been sacked by the Pant and Dowlais Boys and Girls Club which blamed a breakdown of confidence.



Mr Marshallsea and his wife Wendy, 56, were on extended sick leave for work-related stress from the charity for which they had worked 10 years.



They visited friends on a two-month break in Australia and were having a barbecue on the beach when a fin was spotted in the water.



Mr Marshallsea ran into the sea where he was filmed dragging the 6ft-long (1.8m) dusky whaler shark into deeper water.



The charity's former project co-ordinator, said: If I hadn't gone in to save the kids on that beach that day my wife and I would still have a job.



A spokeswoman on behalf of the trustees for Pant and Dowlais Boys & Girls Club said the charity was advised by its solicitors not to comment on the matter.



In a letter to Mr Marshallsea seen by the BBC, he was told by the trustees: Whilst unfit to work you were well enough to travel to Australia and, according to recent news footage of yourself in Queensland, you allegedly grabbed a shark by the tail and narrowly missed being bitten by quickly jumping out of the way.



The photographs and footage appeared in newspapers and television broadcasts.



Mr Marshallsea said he received a second letter stating: The breakdown of the trustees' confidence and trust in you and your ability to perform the role is so great that we find that dismissal is the only course of action we can recommend.

Full article



Do you think he should have been sacked? Why or why not.

 

[seasidemike]

ya of course.... there is way to much fraud out there. Here he has his company that he works for in good faith giving him time off due to 'stress leave' and he is out on holidays in Australia? hell ya he should be fired.

 

[Jazzy]

ya of course.... there is way to much fraud out there. Here he has his company that he works for in good faith giving him time off due to 'stress leave' and he is out on holidays in Australia? hell ya he should be fired.

Even if they were advised by a doctor?

[font=Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif]

[font=Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif]Our doctor advised us to go on holiday so we travelled to stay with friends in Australia.[font=Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif]

 

[Evil Eye]

If they can prove that, he should get his job back.

Provided he'd still want it.

 

[seasidemike]

Even if they were advised by a doctor?

Oh come on.. there is just way to much unemployment out there to sympathize with someone like this. Let someone who actually wants to work take his job and he can stay on the beach wrestling sharks in Australia.

 

[Jazzy]

Oh come on.. there is just way to much unemployment out there to sympathize with someone like this. Let someone who actually wants to work take his job and he can stay on the beach wrestling sharks in Australia.

He wrestled a shark to save kids. Does that not count for something?

Mr Marshallsea ran into the sea where he was filmed dragging the 6ft-long (1.8m) dusky whaler shark into deeper water.

 

[seasidemike]

He wrestled a shark to save kids. Does that not count for something?

Yes, it counts for a lot, just not enough to keep his job.