Workplace Pranks….It’s no joke!

With April Fool’s Day falling on a Bank Holiday in 2024, most of us will be safe from workplace pranks this year.  

I can remember years ago, passing a message on to one of my colleagues (who pranked me on a regular basis) asking them to ring a client back and giving him the phone number for Chester Zoo (unbeknown to him) and telling him that when he got through to the switchboard, he should ask if he could speak to C. Lyons!  Well, some of us thought it was funny at the time 😉

Whilst my workplace prank raised a giggle (from me anyway) there was no harm done but I thought I’d share a few stories where (in most cases) the prank backfired on the prankster and the “prankee” had the “last laugh.”

Workplace Prank emails amounted to bullying and harassment

In this case, Carol Hurley, worked as deputy finance business partner for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust from October 2016 until her resignation in September 2018.

In August 2017, Hurley was sent fake emails by her line manager, who pretended that she had to give a presentation the next day as a practical joke.  

The email sent was to “remind” her of a three-hour presentation she had to deliver to the senior management team the following day, faking an additional email purportedly sent from a general manager to corroborate the story and convincing her “she must have forgotten”. Other people in the office were also in on the joke.

Carol Hurley went on to make a claim against her employer and in 2021 an Employment Tribunal agreed that this was no laughing matter and ruled that the “joke” amounted to bullying and harassment and awarded her almost £10,000.

How did a law firm get it so wrong?

In another case, a female employee, who cannot be named and is referred to as Person A, had joined a law firm as a trainee, just three months before the incident, which took place at the Company Christmas party in 2017.

She told the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal that the male partner – who can also not be identified as he submitted an anonymity order on grounds of his health – had sung that her “vagina is lovely”.

The Employment Tribunal heard that the partner had sung the song after Person A, urged him to “say something outrageous”.

The partner also moved his fist upwards at the start of the song, cupping his right hand and moving it in front of his genitals. Person A was “shocked and humiliated” by his actions and the song.

The incident was filmed, and Person A made a complaint 18 months later after she was overlooked for a role as a newly qualified solicitor. She said she had delayed reporting the incident because she felt vulnerable as a trainee.

The partner told the Employment Tribunal he was “extremely embarrassed” by his actions and “recognised his behaviour was vulgar”.

The Tribunal ruled that he had been motivated to behave in such a manner after the invitation from Person A, but went on to say, “the words used, the gestures that he elected to deploy, the fact that he was a partner, at a work event, with colleagues present and in a public setting represented a grave breach of his position of trust”.

The partner was fined £23,000 for misconduct and £22,800 in costs.

Let’s (NOT) Do It!

In October 2021, Mr Nunns began his role as head chef at the Windermere Manor Hotel.    

Nunns alleged that Mr Wilson, the hotel’s general manager and the second respondent in the claim, made inappropriate comments and sexual references to food. He gave an example of when the claimant held a cucumber and Wilson had made a suggestive look and said: “Do you need some time alone dear?”

The claimant also referred to Wilson faking an orgasm when eating food he had prepared, followed by a hug, a kiss on the forehead, and what Nunns described as “mildly dramatised dry humping”. He also stated that in January 2022, Wilson sang The Ballad of Barry and Freda – Victoria Wood’s comic song about a sexually frustrated wife and her intimacy-fearing husband – in front of him. During the song, “Let’s Do It” Wilson attempted eye contact with Nunns and made gestures.

Nunns won his claim, and the remedy hearing is still to take place. 

Train driver unfairly dismissed after tarantula workplace prank!

Mr Richardson had been working for West Midlands Trains since 2018. In mid-2022, Richardson and a female colleague, described as Driver A, had a conversation in the drivers’ mess in which she indicated a squeamishness to insects and spiders. After this, Richardson played a workplace prank on Driver A, where he placed a tarantula’s exoskeleton – the skin shed by the spider – in her pigeonhole.

As a result, Driver A called Richardson a “f***ing t**t”. He said he could repeat the prank with the shed skin of a snake. The following month, Richardson left a snakeskin in Driver A’s pigeonhole. Again distressed, she reported the event to her line manager and then followed this up formally in an email.  A disciplinary hearing was held under the respondent’s bullying and harassment policy, resulting in dismissal for gross misconduct at which point Richardson submitted a claim for unfair and wrongful dismissal. 

The Employment Tribunal heard that Richardson said that he had not understood Driver A’s genuine upset. 

In September 2023, upholding Richardson’s claim of unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal found it was accepted that Richardson had intended to perform pranks, no matter how poorly judged they proved to be.  

In this case the Judge found that Richardson’s actions did not amount to gross misconduct and that his actions did not set out to intimidate or upset Driver A.  

In October 2023 the Employment Tribunal ordered that Richardson be reinstated on or before 19 January 2024 and that the amount payable to Richardson was £22,571.22, representing his loss of earnings plus £704.99 per week until reinstatement. 

Spectra’s Opinion 

It’s clear to see from the above cases, that not all employees or Tribunal Judges have the same opinion when it comes to workplace pranks!  Our advice is to avoid pranks at all costs, if you think that a prank, a song, or even a joke may cause offence, then it’s always best to keep your mouth shut and just stick to larking around with your friends. 

The workplace also extends to company social events, including those outside of working hours.

It’s also worth pointing out that employee’s can also be liable for fines at Tribunal, not just the employer.

Need Support with your HR issues, Spectra are here, visit our HR Consultancy page for info on our services or contact us for a Free Consultation