Tuesday 7 June 2022 09:07 PM Waitrose worker wins £47,000 payout after wrongful sacking for texting boss ... trends now
A Waitrose worker with 17 years of service has won a £47,000 payout after he was wrongfully sacked for scaring his boss by texting him that he had 'found a knife'.
Mohammed Zahangir Kabir was let go from his role as a sales assistant at the supermarket after his 'joke' texts were read as a genuine threat.
His boss, assistant team manager Matthew Ford, told senior staff at the store that he was scared Mr Kabir would turn up to work with a knife after he received a text that read 'when will i see you next’.
Mr Ford also thought a series of emojis depicting a smiley face with heart-shaped eyes Mr Kabir had sent him to be 'psychotic', an employment tribunal heard.
Police were called and Mr Kabir was searched when he arrived for his shift.
Despite police taking no further action, he was sacked for misconduct after it was found he had caused Mr Ford 'distress'.
But a tribunal has now found this was unfair as his bosses did not take into account his apology and genuine upset at having unintentionally scared his boss in what was meant to be a joke.
The hearing, in east London, was told Mr Kabir worked at the Waitrose store in South Woodford.
Matthew Ford told senior staff he was scared Mr Kabir would turn up to work with a knife after he received a text that read 'when will i see you next’
Originally from Bangladesh, Mr Kabir moved to the UK in 2002 and is married with two children. When he was sacked in June 2020, his children were aged five and 11.
Shortly after 4pm on July 20, 2020, Mr Kabir sent a text message to Mr Ford saying ‘Hi Matt how are you’.
But when his boss asked him what he wanted, he wrote back ‘I found a knife.’ and ‘I don’t know what to do’.
When Mr Ford asked him what he meant, he sent him four emojis of smiley faces with hearts for eyes and said ‘are you scared’.
Mr Kabir then went on to ask ‘what time you finish today’ and ‘when will I see you next’.
The tribunal heard: 'Mr Ford considered the emoji of the smiley face with the heart eyes to be "psychotic". It was not clear why he thought that.'
The following day, Mr Ford told his bosses he was ‘scared and unsure what to do’ and told them he was worried about Mr Kabir arriving for work with a knife.
When Mr Kabir turned up to work to start his shift at 7pm, he found a police officer at work waiting for him and was subsequently searched.
The tribunal heard he was ‘extremely nervous’ but had
