A tribunal case recently had to consider whether a man had suffered age discrimination when an older colleague broke wind on him. The tribunal concluded that he had. In the case of XYV v Birmingham City Council, the Claimant’s colleague, who was in his 50s, broke wind on him as he ate his lunch. He later threatened that he could get rid of him. The tribunal found that this was age-related harassment. The Claimant’s colleague referred to the Claimant, who was younger than him, as a “pup” and said he was “only a trainee” and, on a separate occasion, a “youngster”.
This case is a rather extreme example of the challenges faced by multi-generational workplaces. Employers and HR teams need to work hard to foster a culture of mutual respect across the different generations working side by side. Expected standards should be made clear and behaviour such as that shown to the Claimant in this case should not be tolerated.
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Contact Jon Dunkley
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