A man felt discriminated against after the fire service rejected him from a job, allegedly in favour of female applicants.
The applicant took his case against Avon Fire and Rescue Service to an employment tribunal, but a judge has now dismissed his allegation of direct sexual discrimination.
A ruling published on the government's website explains how the man, named as Mr D Beech, had taken part in a recruitment day for apprentice firefighters last year.
The document explains: "He alleges that the [fire service] operated a system which favoured women in the process over men, because they wanted to recruit more women firefighters to the service.
"The claimant relies upon the asserted fact that a higher proportion of the women who applied were made offers than the proportion of men who applied."
Mr Beech told the tribunal that 125 people applied for the apprenticeship try-outs, of which 14 were women.
Six of the women who applied were rejected, and the other eight were given some form of job offer.
Of the 111 men who applied, he said just seven received some sort of offer.
The fire service denies discrimination, however, and told the tribunal that Mr Beech was unsuccessful solely because he failed a ladder climb.
This was described as being an "essential part" of the assessment criteria during the recruitment process.
However, in September 2019 the fire service sent a letter in response to the complaint, in which it admitted the recruitment process had been "flawed" and would be halted as a result.
The letter read: "Our review has revealed that there were some shortcomings in the process that was followed as part of the recruitment exercise.
"These relate specifically to the decision by the led assessors to apply a selection criteria, which was in accordance with the information you have been provided with, but which also had regard to the under-representation of female firefighters within the workforce.
"Following our review, it has come to our attention that the selection process was fundamentally flawed and it has been halted.
"We have subsequently concluded that we are not able to proceed with the firefighter apprenticeship programme during 2019."
'Errors identified'
Karen Shiel, human resources manager for Avon Fire and Rescue Service, said the tribunal related to a selection process in July 2019.
She said in a statement shared with Bristol Live: “Avon Fire and Rescue Service undertook a review of the final stage of the selection process and errors were identified.
"The selection process was immediately halted and no appointments were made."
The details of the errors were not divulged.
Despite this, employment Judge Rayner concluded that there is "no obvious basis for asserting less favourable treatment on grounds of sex".
The ruling read: "It is highly likely that, as the respondent asserts, he was subjected to the same treatment as every other person who went through the second stage.
"A difference in his score and that of a woman is not evidence of sex discrimination."
'Nothing to do with sex'
Judge Rayner added that the reason his application was unsuccessful was "nothing to do with sex", and more likely due to his failing the ladder climb.
The report was published at the end of September following a hearing held in Southhampton.
The fire service, which has its headquarters in Portishead, covers Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
HR manager Ms Shiel added: "We take sexual discrimination extremely seriously and fully reviewed the allegations and associated evidence.
"Following the preliminary employment tribunal judgement dated September 4 when the Judge struck out the direct discrimination claim, the claimant has since withdrawn his claim of indirect discrimination.
"Therefore the case will not proceed to an employment tribunal."
She reiterated that the applicant failed the ladder climb, which is one of the essential centre tests.
Ms Shiel continued: "All tests were undertaken and assessed equally for all candidates.
"The role of a firefighter requires many skills and it is essential all candidates can meet the minimum requirements during the assessment centre."
Statistics included in its 2019 gender pay gap report showed that just 14 per cent of its 864-strong workforce were women.
Home Office figures for 2019 showed that the national percentage across all fire services was 16.7 per cent.
