A Manchester employment tribunal ruled that Ian Crawford had unfairly dismissed farm worker Peter Crawford (no relation).
But the court ruled that Ian Crawford did not have to pay compensation because of the desperate plight currently faced by Britain's farmers.
"We are relieved that the court understood the difficulties we are being faced with as farmers," said Ian Crawford on Friday.
"I don't know what we would have done if we had been forced to pay compensation."
Ian Crawford, a father of four, told how he had been forced to make his only full-time employee redundant.
"It was a very difficult decision to make because we had worked with him for so long, but we had to make cutbacks," he said.
"So we were shocked that a loyal member of staff would wish to sue us.
"He did not seem to want to grasp what farmers are going through but we thought with all his experience he would be able to understand."
On Monday, Peter Crawford said it had been a 'terrible time' for him and his wife.
The court ruled that he had been unfairly dismissed because the farmer had not followed proper redundancy procedures.
"I was handed a letter in February last year saying I was out of a job and that was it," he said.
"It came as a shock because we had no prior warning." Peter Crawford was made redundant in April last year after 27 years' service.
But Ian Crawford, of Ashley Hall, Ashley, defended his actions as an 'act of survival.'
In the past 18 months he said he had been forced to sell his 150 cattle and surplus machinery because of the poor state of the farming industry.
He now grows potatoes and cereals to stay in business.
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