About this case:

• Judgment:
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The woman had been working for the company for over four years when a dispute arose in relation to a manager shouted “tiocfaidh ar lá” into her face in “a menacing manner”.

Background

Ms Helen Scott, 52, a Catholic woman, worked for a bathroom and heating system’s company, Stevenson & Reid Ltd, from August 2011 until August 2015, and had attained the position of sales manager when she resigned.

In January 2015 Ms Scott was promoted to boutique sales’ manager, as Stevenson & Reid “believed that she was superb at sales and had a formidable work ethic”. Ms Scott was the only Catholic working in the showroom. Mr Sam McCammond, her line manager, had overall responsibility for the boutique.

The impugned incident

It was the practice in Stevenson & Reid to hold a credit meeting every Friday; the Tribunal heard that there was a misunderstanding regarding Ms Scott’s attendance at this meeting, and that she had overlooked email correspondence that had instructed her to ask Mr McCammond to attend in her place.

Ultimately, Mr McCammond believed that Ms Scott had elected him to attend in her place without consulting him.

This lead to a confrontation which, on his own account, Mr McCammond used strong language when he accused Ms Scott of ambushing him and telling lies. Still unaware of the email, Ms Scott was shocked by the manner in which she was spoken to, and told Mr McCammond that she did not make decisions as to who attends meetings.

Mr McCammond then responded to Ms Scott by shouting, “tiocfaidh ar lá” into her face in “a menacing manner”.

Ms Scott was anxious and upset about the incident throughout the weekend, and believed the phrase was directed at her because of her religious background and perceived political opinion with the intention of causing her offence. She found that disturbing as she was the only Catholic working in the showroom.

Ms Scott was dissatisfied with he way in which Mr McCammond responded to her complaint about the incident, and with the company’s handling of the matter – and ultimately went off on certified sick leave due to stress.

Mr McCammond explained that he used the phrase, “tiocfaidh ar lá” in the workplace to express frustration, and told the Tribunal that he used the phrase to convey that he felt that he had been “ambushed” again by Ms Scott. He also asserted he was married to a catholic, and that he did not have any sectarian, religious or political affiliations. He accepted, however, that the phrase was inappropriate.

Ms Scott claimed that she had been constructively unfairly dismissed and also suffered discrimination on the basis of religion and/or political opinion, harassment on the ground of her religious belief and/or political opinion and discrimination by victimisation. Stevenson & Reid disputed Ms Scott’s claim in its entirety.

Firstly, the Tribunal had to consider:

Legal Issues

The Tribunal had to consider the following legal issues in relation to Ms Scott’s claim:

The unanimous decision of the Tribunal was that Stevenson & Reid:

As such, Ms Scott was awarded: £3,240 for unfair dismissal; £15,000 for injury to feelings; and £2,496.00 of interest on the award for injury to feelings.