DISCRIMINATION - 18.05.2020

£20,000 for employee told to pick up dog poo

An employee who was instructed to pick up dog poo from her employer’s car park and “take the rubbish outside” has been awarded £20,000 by the tribunal. Why did the employee receive this amount?

Hair today

Torie Bond (B), who comes from a Greek and Yemeni background, started work as a hairdresser at Lads and Dads’ Barbers in Colwyn Bay in August 2016. The owner of the salon was Joanne Large (L).

Shortly after her employment commenced, B told her colleagues that she was Muslim. Following this disclosure she claimed that L and other employees, including L’s daughter, began treating her unfavourably.

Litter duties

According to her evidence to the tribunal, B was told that she had to remove rubbish from the salon and clean up dog poo from the car park, even though these weren’t her job duties. She also claimed that she was given shorter than usual notice of her shifts.

In February 2017 B went on long-term sickness absence for depression and anxiety. During this time she alleged that she was filmed by other employees when she walked past the salon.

Distant employee

In July 2018 B was sacked. She then issued various tribunal claims, alleging that she had been treated unfavourably due to her religion. L defended the claims stating that B had become distant and less talkative.

In her defence L also pointed to a complaint of improper conduct made against B by a customer and said this was part of the reason for her dismissal. However, that customer complaint was anonymous.

Witness evidence

Another customer gave evidence in support of B. He told the tribunal that L had said to him that she “had recently learned that [Bond] was a Muslim and that she couldn’t have that” .

However, as L didn’t attend the tribunal hearing the judge couldn’t hear her side first hand. Based on the evidence available, B won her claim of religious discrimination and was awarded nearly £20,000 (see The next step ).

Note. £1,000 of this was for unlawful deductions from wages in respect to accrued holiday; £357 was compensation for failure to provide a written statement of employment particulars.

Tip 1. Don’t tell an employee to clear up your workplace or outside areas (or undertake other demeaning tasks) if it’s not in their job role. Also, don’t make any derogatory comments about their religion or personal beliefs to them or others and/or video them when they are off sick. None of these activities can be justified to the tribunal.

Tip 2. Employees now have the statutory right to be given a written statement of employment particulars by day one of employment. Do not overlook issuing this important document - use ours as a starting point (see The next step ).

Tip 3. Anonymous complaints against employees will hold little weight with the tribunal. Unless there is an exceptional reason for the anonymity, they will generally be ignored.

For the tribunal’s ruling in this case and a written statement of employment particulars, visit http://tipsandadvice-personnel.co.uk/download (PS 22.11.02).

The employer gave the employee these tasks after she disclosed that she was Muslim. As they were demeaning the tribunal concluded that the employer’s actions amounted to religious discrimination. Don’t tell any employee to clear up your workplace or outside areas if it’s outside of their job role.

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