Being harassed at work-Told Bosses but still facing the sack!

buel

Hi,
My friend at work has been harassed by another worker for over 18 months. The other worker has been constantly shouting homophobic comments such as 'Queer'. My friend has constantly reported this to his managers and up to two months ago the best he got from them was that they 'had a word' with the offending worker, this did not stop him.

After my friend raised a grievance with his employers about them lacking any action whatsoever after he reported yet another incident (and had two witnesses to the homophobic shouts directed at him) the employer/manager launched an internal investigation which included interviewing every member of staff to ask them if they had witnessed any abuse from either party (even though it has always been 100% one sided).
A few employees complained to my friend that they questions were phrased very unfairly towards my friend and not really allowed to elaborate on their answers (an example of this would be the opening question was 'Have you witnessed any abuse from either party to the other?' and the interviewee would say 'No' but would then attempt to say 'but he doesn't shout it directly to his face, just within earshot' but was cut short after the answer of 'no'!)

My friend then received a letter from his boss stating that his investigation failed to reach a definitive conclusion (i happen to know that 3 people signed a statement to confirm they have witneesed the abuse but 3 people claimed it 'was just banter'! Also the letter said 'both of you are aware there has been several attempts by the company to resolve your issue' (where all that has happened is the verbal promise from my friend's boss of having 'had a word' with the offending employee to stop) and 'despite the company receiving assurances from both of you that the issues would be resolved, this is patently not the case' (which is impossibly as my friend hasn't given any assurances as he hasn't ever done a thing wrong, all he has done is constantly reported the harassment) and 'as a final attempt' is offering to pay for mediation via Acas.

My friend sent a letter back pointing out the two errors in the letter (the two quotes i have mentioned earlier) and that he was so keen for the abuse to stop that he was willing to pay half the cost of mediation and was willing to participate in his own time. This letter has not received a reply but he has been told when the time and date of the mediation is (This monday).

Am i right in thinking that my friend has been very harshly treated by his employers?
And would you agree that it looks very likely that my friend and the offending employee are basically close to being sacked?

Valli

I suggest your friend contacts his union for some support.
In the meantime he needs to keeop a diary of any further events, recording names of those present.

50Twuncle

And keeps a small tape recorder / MP3 player with him to record any verbal abuse as evidence for a tribunal (should one prove necessary)

Pound

My advice is that if he's a victim of homophobic abuse that he just report it to the police as this is now a criminal offense, especially if the witnesses are willing to make statements. The police should take this a lot more seriously then your friends employer and will hopefully charge or caution the offender.

patman99

As your friend is homosexual, the offender may also be in breach of the sex discrimination act as well.

buel

Hi and thank you for your posts!!
My friend actuallly isn't homosexual.
Regarding the 'banter', it was my opinion that it is irrelevant whether the employers or the co-workers believed the comments were 'banter', the worker has admitted shouting them but claims that they were 'meant for somebody else'!
Yes my friend is a member of the GMB but unfortunately he has only this week had to request that a different representative take over the case as the rep who had been 'advising' him hasn't really wanted to know.
Also, what i haven't mentioned is that a few months ago he reported to his employers and the police three things:
1, the homophobic comments during work
2, being 'tailgated' by the offending worker's friend, which started within the work car park and continued into the nearest town
3, the fact that the offending worker shouted 'Queer' at him outside of work and had/has a video on his phone showing this.
The police came to our place of work and interviewed the two workers and gave them warnings but not a 'caution'. The employer then gave them both a final written warning but then took them back when the two workers appealed saying that the incidents of tailgating and of shouting 'Queer' happened outside of work. My friend argued that the homophobic comments still happened during work hours but nothing further happened!

Also, my friend has requested that he can see the witness statements but has yet to receive a reply from the HR department, please can anyone advise whether he is legally able to do this?

Jacey53

If following the warning by police the conduct continues, then your friend should go back to the police.

The offenders will have been warned previously in order to give them a chance to change their behaviour. If they haven't, then the police need to deal with it.

Your friend may also wish to take advice from someone like CAB regarding a civil suit (although I don't think he would get legal aid - any defamation lawyers around?).

I don't have any advice to give about what is happening in the workplace, but taking advice through the union is probably the way to go. The employers are on very shaky ground I would have thought if they allow this kind of abuse. Is your friend the only target?

It sounds as though they are too weak to deal with this issue and are taking the easy option.

I suggest that your friend appeals the warning he was given stating that he would like any further action to be postponed pending the outcome of a police investigation into the matter.


This is the offence:

The offence is created by section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986:
"(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he: (a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby." This offence has the following statutory defences:
(a) The defendant had no reason to believe that there was any person within hearing or sight who was likely to be alarmed or distressed by his action. (b) The defendant was in a dwelling and had no reason to believe that his behaviour would be seen or heard by any person outside any dwelling. (c) The conduct was reasonable. This is a summary offence. It is punishable with a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.[1] (£1,000 as of 2009)

Ewarwoowar2

Your friend is a victim of harassment on the basis of his sexuality under the Equality Act. It doesn't matter that he's not homosexual. There's a famous case about this called English v Thomas Sanderson Ltd [2008].

My advice would be to appeal the grievance decision. If this does not bring an end to the harassment, he should think about putting in a claim to the employment tribunal.

If it's getting too much, your friend should also think about seeing his GP and perhaps getting signed off work.

50Twuncle

Don't forget that your friend will (presumably) expect to return to work - after all this is over - and may have to work alongside these "individuals" for a number of years - unless he is prepared to accept a payment in-lieu ?

mazinmouse

Is it not the case that anyone can find homophobic comments offensive. In my workplace I can report harrassment that I may witness - it does not have to have been directed at me.

diable

Make sure your friend notes down all incidents at work and outside of work, keep reporting the incidents to the Police and if the culprit is tailgating it might be worthwhile (if your friend can put up with the hassle) to slam on the brakes, feign injury and to screw him over big time. If all the incidents are reported to the Police he could say he was being run off the road and they will take the matter more seriously.

Me personally, I would drag the bully from the car give him a good kicking then ask him politely to stop shouting out queer as I am straight and not interested in his advances.