CALLING the boss a “d***head” need not be a sackable offence, an employment tribunal ruled.
The insult would not necessarily amount to gross misconduct if uttered “in the heat of the moment”, it said.
It comes after £40,000-a-year office manager Kerrie Herbert lashed out at a meeting in 2022.
She feared she was being laid off from building firm Main Group Services, run by Thomas Swannell and his wife Anna in .
When issues about her performance were raised, Ms Herbert began crying.
The tribunal heard she then said: “If it was anyone else in this position they would have walked years ago due to the goings-on in the office, but it is only because of you two d**heads I stayed.”
Mr Swannell replied: “Don’t call me a f***ing d***head or my wife. That’s it, you’re sacked. Pack your kit and f*** off.”
Ms Herbert said she asked if he was really firing her, and her boss answered: “Yes I have, now fuck off.”
Ms Herbert’s contract said she could be fired for insulting language but with prior warning.
She sued for unfair dismissal and was awarded £29,129 in compensation and costs.
Calling the boss a ‘d***head’ need not be a sackable offence, an employment tribunal ruled
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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