Derogatory comments or jokes about a protected characteristic, such as a person’s age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religious beliefs or disability, are discrimination under Section 13 of the Equality Act 2010. Or discrimination under Section 26 may result in
Dawn Dixon, a partner at Anderson Strathairn, said jokes about someone’s appearance pose a “huge risk” because they could seem offensive.
“It’s not about the intent of the sender, but about how the message is received and its impact,” he said. “Another concern is harassment, for example when someone abuses a co-worker on WhatsApp or kicks them out of a work group.
“If this behavior continues unchecked, it could lead to costly legal action or even constructive dismissal for employers.”
Mark Brosnan was awarded more than £130,000 ($253,000) in damages after he was banned from a group chat on WhatsApp while on sick leave. A plumber claims he was harmed because his employer created a group chat.
An employee who criticizes an employer or manager can use his or her letters as evidence before an employment tribunal.
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Debbie Parker has been sacked from her job as night manager at a company nightclub in Sheffield after she called boss Mark Hobson a “c–” and wrote “may I ask” in a WhatsApp group called “Rebel”. Union.
“We all trusted each other and felt safe,” Parker later told the company. [the chat]. This was our level of confidence that our data was safe within the group and not shared outside of it.
In another case, HR director Mahnaz Rezvani was fired from AHRO Scientific Publishing in Glasgow when she became pregnant, and her boss Dr Abu Bakar Yaro subsequently sent her funny emojis.
Account manager Emma Nunn accused her boss at her car restoration business in Kibworth of sexual harassment in April this year.
The court heard that Adam Crouch asked her to take part in the meeting because the man in question liked “beautiful women” before being called “Roeder”, whose nickname “Emma Roy” sounds like “hemorrhoids”.
In another court, Georgina Roberts sued recruitment manager Goran Hankic for unfair and unfair dismissal and sexual harassment.
Roberts was fired after she rebuffed the advances of her boss, who had taken cocaine and tried to sleep with her. A month before the incident, the couple exchanged flirtatious messages on WhatsApp which would later be presented as evidence in court.
Mary Walker, partner and employment law specialist at law firm Gordons, says “obscene or defamatory” messages can always be investigated by employers and could be grounds for dismissal.
“Simply put, if there’s something you can’t say out loud even to your family, it shouldn’t be on WhatsApp. Proactive measures taken by employers can eliminate informality from certain communication channels,” he said.
The informality offered by WhatsApp also carries the risk of invasion of privacy when communicating outside business hours.
When Himanta Mainali received a message from her colleague late at night, she considered it a “deliberate attempt to harass him” and responded angrily. Mainali, the sushi stand manager, left the job shortly after and sued a co-worker for harassment.
Walker added: “Whether or not an inappropriate WhatsApp message can be deleted is a personal matter in some cases. However, it highlights the importance of culture in the workplace.
“If someone is taught how to dismiss obscene messages as ‘teasing’, they are more likely to create a toxic culture and be frowned upon by an outside audience or a court of law.”
