Porsche Salesman Succeeds In Unfair Dismissal Claim For Joining In With ‘Laddish Crude Banter’

Mr S Rathod v Pendragon Sabre Ltd: 2600579/2021

Summary

The Claimant, Mr Rathod, described himself as British Asian. He was employed as a car sales executive and became the only non-white member of an all-male sales team. Employment Judge Clark described the culture of the workplace as ‘laddish’, crude and immature. This culture was said to have developed to a more sinister level as it was infected by the overt prejudices, opinions and attitudes of some of its members. Mr Rathod was repeatedly referred to as ‘Chapati’ and ‘Poppadum’.

Despite this treatment, Mr Rathod tried to get on with his colleagues as best he could. The Judge accepted that the idea of belonging remained important to him for some time and resulted in him having to conform to the existing team culture.

Following the first national lockdown on 23rd March 2020, Mr Rathod set up a WhatsApp group for the sales team. This group was said to have allowed the extreme behaviour to continue. When Mr Rathod returned to work after three months of being on furlough he expressed his unhappiness to his manager saying he was sick of the banter. He lodged a grievance but his concerns were dismissed. Mr Rathod then went on sick leave and at a later date, he put forward a grievance regarding a specific colleague referred to as ‘O’ and this grievance was partially upheld. ‘O’ then shared copies of messages where Mr Rathod was shown to have shared offensive jokes and as a result, Mr Rathod was subject to a disciplinary hearing before being summarily dismissed.

Employment Judge Clark concluded that:

The respondent’s franchise finance leader investigated the grievance and she too seemed to acknowledge:

Mr Rathod’s claim for unfair dismissal and breach of contract was successful. Remedy, if not agreed by the parties, is to be determined at a later hearing.

What can employers do?

It is important that any jokes, or banter that might be offensive to another employee are avoided. So-called banter in the workplace can lead to a person facing disciplinary charges and another claiming for alleged discrimination.

All employers should have clear policies on bullying and harassment and staff should be encouraged to undergo training to understand these policies. Any grievances should be dealt with promptly and formally and staff should be reminded that they can raise concerns and the procedure for doing this.