A Sainsbury’s employee has won an employment tribunal after a colleague called her a “fucking bitch”, before being told by a manager that she was overreacting to the situation.

Deborah Oziel, an employee at the supermarket’s East Finchley store, resigned in April 2023 and later brought claims against the retailer including constructive unfair dismissal, whistleblowing detriment and sex discrimination. An Employment Tribunal in Watford found in her favour and awarded her 59,333.14 in compensation, including injury to feelings and aggravated damages.

Colleague’s outburst on shop floor, threats of imitation weapon

The tribunal heard that on 23 September 2021, Oziel challenged colleague Matthew Henderson (MH) about failing to carry out allocated tasks. In response, he had an “outburst of swearing” before leaving for the back of the store. When Oziel followed to speak to him, Henderson shouted at her again “which included the words ‘fucking bitch’”.

The panel accepted Oziel’s account, noting that this happened “on the shop floor in front of customers and colleagues”. Although an internal investigation was carried out, the outcome letter only stated that “there can however be no further incidents like this”. Henderson was not called as a witness at the tribunal.

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiyAFBVV95cUxOeXg0Nk50eHgxcVVlQURBaHVq...