Posted on 12/30/2005 7:23:00 PM PST by Pikamax
Lesbian was unfairly sacked for throwing flour at a customer By Nicola Woolcock
A LESBIAN shop worker sacked for throwing a bag of flour at a customer who called her a “filthy dyke” has won her case for unfair dismissal.
Caroline Gardener snapped after the man became abusive when he was unable to find any lime cordial in the shop. She claimed that he pushed her, called her useless and told her: “Get your sex life sorted out.”
Miss Gardener, 45, retaliated by throwing a packet of flour at the back of his head. When they went to the manager’s office to complain about each other’s conduct, Miss Gardener lunged at the customer.
She told the tribunal: “I didn’t go for his throat, I just went for his collar because he had really upset me. When he called me a filthy dyke I had a pack of flour in my hand and, although I regret it now, I threw it at the back of his head. He then turned round and said, ‘You are a dyke and you’re going to get the sack’.”
Miss Gardener was dismissed for violent and insulting behaviour after a disciplinary hearing in September last year. She took Booker Cash & Carry to an employment tribunal, claiming breach of contract, unfair dismissal and discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation.
The tribunal panel ruled that Miss Gardener, of Eastleigh, Hampshire, had been unfairly dismissed; but that she had not been dismissed because of her sexuality and that Booker had not breached its contract of employment. Mark Broad, her solicitor, said: “It wasn’t an enthusiastic verdict for her but it was the right verdict.”
Miss Gardener took her case to tribunal after an appeal against the disciplinary ruling was turned down. She told the tribunal: “I was devastated and I lost two stone in weight in five weeks. I couldn’t understand how the company’s attitude had changed so quickly.”
She also claimed that she was discriminated against by a manager, Nicolas Burn. He told the hearing that he had been justified in sacking Miss Gardener and that the company had not treated her any differently because she was a lesbian.
she must have liked the job and really kneaded the dough
...just too many lines to be used here...???...not wanting to offend...but more inportant...a ban...hmmmmmm....naw, I'll wait
Doogle
Assaulting customers is no reason for dismissal, apparently.
How long have our courts cited that "words cannot incite to violence"? Seems this woman started the physical stuff.
LOL -how did he know of her unsorted 'sex life'?
no pictures please.
Well, this is Britain, after all.
"she must have liked the job and really kneaded the dough"
wonder if it was Dill Dough?
Yeah but if she really WAS a filthy dyke, then there's no case here.
And how was this guy to know she was a lesbian? He either knew her or she made an issue of being *in-your-face* about it. At which point, she deserved what she got. I would never make presumptions about a persons sexuality without some good reason. There's more to this story than what happened.
Sound like she is leaving something out like "thats why I only date women, all you men want lime cordials"
" throwing a bag of flour at a customer "
Whole wheat or white? I hope that she threw a healthy, low carb, whole wheat flour at the customer.
This sounds like a tale tha a Greenwich Village resident would tell to the Voice
At least something good came out of it.
Now that she doesn't have her two stones, maybe she'll realize she really IS a female.
Homo's get a free pass, as usual.
Go to your room for being so bad!
Ha Ha Ha !
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