Laughing when someone falls over isn’t harassment
Laughing at someone when they fall over at work isn't harassment, an Employment Tribunal has ruled.
As reported by the Daily Mail, pub worker Kesarajith Perera lost his Tribunal claim, which followed an incident in which he slipped on a patch of oil at The George pub in Harrow, London. In response, his manager, Hesham Badra, laughed out loud.
Mr Perera was later dismissed over a failure to provide documentation for his proof of right to work in the UK – which led him to claim racial and religious harassment against his employer, Stonegate Pub Company Ltd. He cited Mr Badra's response to his fall as evidence.
However, judge David Maxwell dismissed his claim, saying that the “slapstick element” of someone falling over was likely to provoke laughter.
He said:
“Whilst it might be tempting to hope that one colleague would only ever react in a sympathetic way towards the misfortune of another, common experience suggests this is not always the case.”
Mr Perera argued his boss had deliberately put oil on the floor to make him slip up, to which the Tribunal commented:
“Unfortunately, it appears to us, Mr Perera has a tendency to jump to conclusions when he encounters misfortune. Furthermore, Mr Perera's allegation was undermined by his own evidence, which was to the effect that the location where he fell was one prone to spillages.”
Harassment is unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct that violates the dignity of a person or creates a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Blaspheming could also be deemed harassment on the grounds of religion or belief, especially where someone has a strong faith. Swearing, when linked to racist, sexist or homophobic language, can also be deemed harassment.
The panel concluded the laughter had nothing to do with Mr Perera's race or religion.
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