A factory worker, aged 20, has received compensation of £8,000 after his boss labelled him a “spoilt child” and a “jumped up know-it-all” in an argument.
Jake Rawnsley has won a payout of £8,000 after an employment tribunal found that he was unfairly dismissed by his company.
Working for Queniborough Aluminium Services in Leicester, Mr. Rawnsley had been employed by the firm for three years before the confrontation happened.
Mr. Rawnsley told the tribunal that he had a confrontation with his managing director, Mr. Beall, which culminated in a physical altercation.
According to court documents, Mr. Rawnsley asked his manager whether other people should be assisting him with the work he was instructed to carry out.
However, Mr. Beall responded to this by striking Mr. Rawnsley before pushing him and telling him to leave the premises.
Mr. Rawnsley left and subsequently went to his GP the following day in order to receive a sick note which allowed him time off work due to stress.
Three days into Mr. Rawnsley’s leave, he received a letter from the company. In this letter, Mr. Beall, the managing director, branded Mr. Rawnsley a “jumped up, know it all, spoilt child”.
The letter concluded with the statement: “So the QAS official position is as of today you have resigned, should this not be the case you would be dismissed for gross insubordination”.
In light of this, the employment tribunal found that Mr. Beall was guilty of age discrimination due to referring to the 20 year old factory worker as a “spoilt child”. As a direct result of this, it was deduced that Mr. Rawnsley had been subject to less favourable treatment as a result of his age.
The Judge also stated there was “no justification” for the assault on Mr. Rawnsley and, therefore, stated it was “difficult to envisage circumstances in which such a dismissal could be anything other than unfair.”
The employment tribunal awarded Mr Rawnsley a total of £7,949.96, including more than £5,000 for unfair dismissal and £1,000 for ‘injury to feelings’.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
