Compensation Awarded to Sainsbury's Manager Over Social Media Exclusion
A Sainsbury's store manager has received compensation after being excluded from a social media post celebrating International Men's Day.
Darren Cooper, who managed the Pontypridd store, was on leave due to anxiety when his regional director posted on LinkedIn and Yammer recognizing male leaders who "all show up for work each day, put on a name badge and provide support, guidance and leadership."
Cooper felt "excluded, humiliated and violated" upon noticing his absence from the post. His manager explained the omission was because he believed Cooper did not wish to be contacted.
An employment tribunal ordered compensation of £11,852, including £7,500 for injury to feelings.
Background and Employment History
Cooper began his career at Sainsbury's in 1993 and described his long tenure to the Cardiff tribunal by saying he had "orange blood" in his veins after decades with the retailer.
He became manager of the Pontypridd store in 2010 and took sick leave for anxiety in July 2022.
Details of the Social Media Post
In November 2022, Cooper's line manager, Matt Hourihan, published a post on Yammer and LinkedIn.
Hourihan stated he wanted to "celebrate the male leaders" within his teams at Sainsbury's stores across south Wales and England.
"All of you do this whilst leading busy lives outside of work too, dealing with health, family and personal issues in the same way that everyone else does, yet you all show up for work each day, put on a name badge and provide support, guidance and leadership to the thousands of colleagues that work on our region."
The tribunal heard that the post included a photo of every regional store manager who was named and tagged, except for Cooper.
Cooper testified that the post caused him "untold further damage" to his health and the "angst" of answering questions from friends and colleagues about whether he had left Sainsbury's.
Tribunal Findings and Manager's Explanation
The tribunal concluded that Hourihan's "conscious thought process" to exclude Cooper constituted unfavourable treatment arising from disability.
"Therefore this amounted to unfavourable treatment because of something arising from disability,"
the panel stated.
Hourihan explained that since Cooper had deleted WhatsApp and expressed a wish not to be contacted, he thought it best to omit him from the post.
He also noted he did not have a photo of Cooper and considered it inappropriate to request one.
Subsequent Developments and Legal Action
After numerous discussions about Cooper's return to work, he was dismissed in June 2023. Following this, Cooper filed claims for disability discrimination, harassment, unfavourable treatment, and unfair dismissal.
The tribunal ruled in Cooper's favour for harassment related to disability and unfavourable treatment due to something arising from disability.
However, claims of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal were dismissed.
