Manager’s payout after being sacked over office banter
A CALL centre boss who was sacked by mobile giant EE after office banter got out of hand and a man was kicked unconscious at his desk has won her employment tribunal case against the firm.
Fay Hand, an operations manager for almost 17 years at EE’s Darlington site, has won a fivefigure payout for unfair dismissal. She was described as a ‘valued employee’ but was sacked when a member of her team snapped after one prank too many.
The hearing was told that staff would indulge in banter to break up the ‘somewhat mundane’ work. Examples included ‘crop dusting’ – breaking wind near a colleague – and taping up a computer mouse.
But tempers frayed last October when an employee who had been the previous victim of pranks had his security pass defaced. He ‘flipped’ and kicked a colleague unconscious.
The attacker was suspended but gave bosses a long statement setting out what had been happening. He said the security pass incident was the ‘last straw’ and accused Mrs Hand, of Wynyard, Teesside, of not taking his complaints seriously.
The operations manager was among seven staff sacked, with EE accusing her of failing to protect the employee. But the judge ruled that the investigation into her actions had been inadequate and her dismissal pre-judged.
An EE spokesman said it adopted a ‘ zero- tolerance approach’ to bullying but accepted the tribunal’s ruling.