A warehouse worker who was sacked after being accused by a colleague of impersonating Michael Jackson has been found to be unfairly dismissed by an employment tribunal. The tribunal in Manchester heard that Lucasz Zawadzki was accused of making high-pitched 'hee hee' noises mimicking the pop star at the Co-Operative warehouse where he worked.
The colleague, referred to as SM, also accused Mr Zawadzki of making monkey noises and being racist. Mr Zawadzki admitted making 'embarrassing and juvenile' noises in the workplace but denied they were racist. He said he did not wish to 'bully or hurt someone'.
The Co-operative Group was ordered to pay Mr Zawadzki more than £10,000 in compensation after Employment Judge Carol Porter found that he was unfairly dismissed. Judge Porter stated that there was 'no satisfactory evidence' that the admitted conduct was offensive to SM or caused him distress.
The tribunal also found that Mr Zawadzki was not aware of the company’s zero-tolerance policy regarding inappropriate behaviour and had not received any warnings that such behaviour was unacceptable. The judge concluded that the misconduct was 'inappropriate and juvenile conduct' but not sufficient to justify dismissal.
