Worker wins nearly £10k after being sacked for sweary outburst at 'lazy' colleague

A worker with Tourette's syndrome has been awarded almost £10,000 after he was dismissed for calling a colleague a "lazy bastard".

Jonathan Gee, 30, won a disability discrimination case following his dismissal from a leading British food manufacturer over the outburst.

Mr Gee said that he confronted his co-worker because he felt she was “not pulling her weight”.

Liverpool Employment Tribunal found JF Renshaw discriminated against Mr Gee, ruling that the firm treated his disabilities as “too much of a burden” and unfairly declined to rehire him a year later.

He was awarded £9,710 in compensation.

Mr Gee started at JF Renshaw in September 2020 but was sacked just two months later.

He lives with ADHD, OCD, PTSD and Tourette's, which hamper his independence and require him to live with his mother.

The tribunal heard: “Perhaps the biggest adverse impact of these conditions is difficulty in holding down employment.

“His ADHD and OCD cause him to adhere rigidly to legislation, rules or instructions and when others do not so adhere, or if he is told to ignore them, this causes extreme frustration which can lead to angry outbursts.

“This has led to the termination of his employment many times.

“Most of the 56 jobs he has had to date have ended for this reason.”

The tribunal also heard he called another colleague a “lazy bastard”.

It was heard: “He soon came to the attention of management [at JF Renshaw] after an incident with another employee when he swore at her.

“His verbal outburst was because he felt the other employee was not pulling her weight as he was doing.”

He was referred to Occupational Health, which highlighted conditions that affected his behaviour and performance at work.

The report was discussed in a meeting with Sandra Bray, the area manager, in November 2020, with suggestions such as allowing him to report what he perceived as incorrect practices and allowing him to have “time out” sessions.

It also suggested having 10-minute meetings with his manager in the middle and at the end of each shift.

On the same day, Mr Gee was dismissed with one week's notice because the company said they needed to release some of the temporary staff.

Only two members of staff were dismissed.

He reapplied for a similar temporary job at the company in 2021 and 2023 but he was rejected from the recruitment process.

Employment Judge Callum Cowx said that Mr Gee was dismissed due to his disabilities.

Judge Cowx said: “[Mr Gee's] disability was the cause of his dismissal in 2020. Without contrary evidence from [JF Renshaw] the decision to dismiss him on the same day his manager Ms Bray highlighted the difficulties in implementing some of the adjustments suggested by OH was no coincidence.

“In effect, [he] and his disability were regarded as too much of a burden and the easiest solution for the [company] was to terminate his employment.

“His disability was also the reason why the [company] did not want to rehire him in 2021 and 2023.

“By rejecting [his] job application in June 2023, the [company] discriminated against him because of his disability.

“They treated him less favourably than a hypothetical person without his disability. The rejection was also discrimination arising from disability.

“By rejecting his application, the [company] treated [him] unfavourably because of the incident in 2020 which occurred as a consequence of his disability.”

Judge Cowx said that he suffered an injury to feelings when he was rejected a second time from the company and he “self-harmed by biting, burning or stabbing the back of his hand”.

He said that he now works for himself because he feels he will always be “judged and misunderstood by fellow employees”.