F-word 'particularly common in north' - tribunal judge

A tribunal judge remarked that use of the f-word was "particularly common in the North" while explaining why a firm had been unfair to sack a worker for swearing.

Delivery driver Rob Ogden was fired from his job at wholesaler Booker Ltd in Oldham after swearing at a colleague.

But judge Jetinder Shergill said swearing was so widespread that Mr Ogden, who had worked there for seven years, had been made an unfair example of.

He said that while such language should not be used in the workplace it is a "common everyday experience, particularly in the North".

Judge Shergill told the Manchester tribunal that a disciplinary investigation was fair, but employers should have exercised clearer standards and norms in the workplace.

Mr Ogden was said to have used offensive language against a female co-worker in July 2023.

The tribunal heard how during the same incident, which was an office discussion about doughnuts, weight loss and attending a weight loss club he said: “No wonder it takes you 19 weeks to lose a stone, it hasn’t taken me 19 weeks.”

The woman involved then made a complaint against Mr Ogden.

Mr Ogden told the tribunal that the workplace culture was “toxic” and “lawless” with lots of “banter” and mutual horseplay between staff, which could also be “jovial”.

These included references to colleagues’ weight, using the term “chubs”, chat about “fat club” and fake certificates left in the office commending the “gainer of the week”.

The worker who complained about Mr Ogden was said to have given “as good as she [got]”.

Judge Shergill found there was no real enforcement by managers of expected standards and norms in the workplace, and that some senior staff were part of the problem.

He ruled the firm then did not follow a reasonably fair procedure before it dismissed him in October 2023.

“The claimant had not been pulled up before over comments, and this likely led to a false sense of security in terms of it not being a disciplinary issue," he said.

“The free-for-all in the office suggested the claimant was the one who was without a chair when the music stopped.

"There was a real sense of him being made an example of, which in the context of the free-for-all office and significant failings in process was unreasonable.”

A further hearing will take place to decide how much compensation Mr Ogden is entitled to.

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