Wetherspoons has been ordered to pay £25,000 to an autistic kitchen worker after “mistreating” him over a staff discount.
Brandon Halstead, who worked at The Albany Place pub in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, used his 20 per cent employee discount to pay for a meal for his family of seven, saving £19.17 in total.
He didn’t realise the discount could only be used for groups of up to four people. Instead of explaining the rule or giving him a warning, his managers accused him of being “dishonest” and called him to a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct.
‘He felt persecuted’
via Cnava
According to the Daily Mail, a manager told Brandon they needed to “investigate a potential violation” of the discount policy. In that first meeting, he admitted to using his discount for more than four people and explained that he didn’t know there was a group limit.
Brandon also mentioned that his mother had access to his Wetherspoons app to check his rota and organise transport for him. Managers said this was a data security breach. But Brandon apologised immediately, saying it wouldn’t happen again.
A second meeting was later held, with his mother present. She explained that she only used the app to note down his shifts. This is because Brandon finds it difficult to manage his schedule because of his autism.
Both Brandon and his mother said he would have needed someone to go through company policies with him in person to properly understand them. They also told managers how much the process was affecting his mental health.
Despite this, Brandon was soon sent a letter summoning him to a formal disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct. It accused him of “dishonesty” over the discount and a “failure to comply” with data protection rules.
The tribunal heard that Brandon, who is autistic, suffered “significant stress and anxiety” because of the incident. And he was later signed off work. He said the whole experience left him feeling “persecuted.”
In September, Brandon’s mother filed a formal grievance on his behalf. Wetherspoons tried to arrange a meeting, but she said he couldn’t attend due to short notice. She told the company it had “failed to make any reasonable adjustments.” And when she asked for compensation, Wetherspoons refused to offer any payment or “goodwill gesture.”
Wetherspoons’ reaction was ‘not proportionate’
via Luca Bravo on Unsplash
Employment Judge Murdoch found that Wetherspoons’ response was “not proportionate.” She wrote, “Applying this zero-tolerance policy to someone with autism who did not know the rule and was not dishonest in his misuse of it is not a proportionate response.”
The tribunal said the company’s strict zero-tolerance policy on staff discounts put Brandon at a disadvantage compared to employees without disabilities.
The judge added that someone without autism might have known about the rule or deliberately broken it. But Brandon had made an honest mistake. “[Mr Halstead] admitted straight away to breaking the rules of the discount policy because he was unaware of the rules. A typical feature of autism is a strong desire to follow rules,” she said.
The tribunal ruled in Mr Halstead’s favour, finding that Wetherspoons had failed to make reasonable adjustments. He was awarded £25,412 in compensation.
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