IT man’s harassment claim falls on deaf ears at tribunal

AN OFGEM worker who went off sick with an ear infection sued the energy regulator for harassment after his boss joked to him “let’s play it by ear”.

IT expert Rodolfo Soares “unreasonably” took offence to manager Kyle Kuenzel’s light-hearted and “trivial” pun made when they were discussing him working from home.

Brazilian Mr Soares, who worked for the government regulator, raised multiple grievances over the way he was treated by his boss. He was later let go and launched tribunal claims of race discrimination and harassment due to his Latin American heritage.

But an employment judge has ruled Mr Kuenzel’s comment was appropriate in the “context of uncertainty” surrounding his ear infection, and dismissed his claims.

The East London tribunal heard Mr Soares began working as a developer for Ofgem in November 2019.

He was one of two staff working in a team managed by Kyle Kuenzel.

Four months into his new job, the tribunal was told Mr Soares became unwell with an ear infection.

He reported to Mr Kuenzel one Friday that his ears were “blocked” and that he was booked in for a procedure to resolve the issue the following week. The tribunal heard Mr Kuenzel told Mr Soares to take the rest of the day and the weekend off to try to feel better.

Mr Soares replied asking if he would be able to work from home until his procedure, to which his boss responded: “All kidding aside, let’s play it by ear.”

Though this later formed an important part of his tribunal claims, the hearing was told Mr Soares raised no issue with the comment at the time.

During his mid-probation review in early March 2020, Mr Soares was told he was making mistakes in his work.

He was given four weeks to improve, and told his probation period was to be extended by three months.

After making complaints against his boss, both of which were dismissed, he was told he had failed to complete his probationary period and was sacked by Ofgem in early August 2020.

In his ruling, Employment Judge Bruce Gardiner said: “Mr Kuenzel’s remark ‘let’s play it by ear’ was a one-off comment made during the course of a dialogue recorded and transcribed.

“In the context of the conversation as a whole, it was a trivial comment. Mr Soares ought to have appreciated that any offence caused was not intended.”

Mr Soares’s claims were dismissed in their entirety.