Lunch prank victim not sacked unfairly - tribunal

A garage apprentice who was sacked after threatening a colleague he suspected of "tampering with his lunch" was not unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Brooklyn Forrester-Hayes, 21, sent "abusive messages" to a person he thought had pranked him by "smashing his crisps" and poking "finger-sized holes through his sandwiches" in July 2023.

He had been working as an apprentice technician at the Scania depot in Swindon, Wiltshire, at the time, the Bristol Employment Tribunal was told.

Mr Forrester-Hayes claimed he had been unfairly dismissed and that managers did not take his ADHD into account, but the tribunal ruled bosses were entitled to conclude his behaviour was unacceptable.

Mr Forrester-Hayes began working at the depot in February 2020 when he was 16 years old.

The tribunal heard there had been a culture of "banter" and "pranking" among the five apprentices at the depot, which often included interfering with each others' tools.

Mr Forrester-Hayes was handed a final written warning in 2021 after he angrily reacted to one of his tools being wrapped in electrical tape by a colleague.

He "grabbed him by the collar and held on to him" before a supervisor intervened, the tribunal was told.

Shortly after starting his shift in July 2023, Mr Forrester-Hayes discovered someone had crushed his crisps and chocolate bars, poked finger-sized holes through his sandwiches and opened tea bags before sprinkling tea leaves over his lunch bag.

Mr Forrester-Hayes said he was "upset, dismayed and angry, and now had no food until he got home".

He threw the contents of his lunch box in the bin and then went to report the incident, the tribunal heard.

Mr Forrester-Hayes assumed an apprentice on the early shift was responsible, and made threats to harm him to a colleague who was in the tea room.

He also made threats to the person he suspected was responsible in messages on Snapchat.

Mr Forrester-Hayes told the tribunal his ADHD had the effect of him "saying something impulsively".

He admitted he did not "stop to think about the consequences of the messages".

He was suspended when the messages came to light and then sacked after further investigation.

The tribunal ruled that "dismissal was necessary to protect employees".

Mr Forrester-Hayes' claims of unfair dismissal, damages for breach of contract, disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments and harassment related to disability failed.

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