Two senior male executives have been sacked for marking women out of ten for their looks in a WhatsApp group.
Richard Sharp and Dean Lewis, along with five colleagues, also made other ‘highly derogatory’ sexual comments, including fantasies involving one manager.
The WhatsApp messages also contained a cartoon picture of Snow White, a reference to another employee, in a ‘sexual pose’ with Pinocchio, as well discussion of – and photos from – ‘upskirting’, including naming a co-worker.
The men also shared racist and Islamophobic ‘jokes’ and mocked a company-wide reminder about the harassment policy.
A whistleblower alerted the wastewater management company to the ‘offensive’ messages and a disciplinary investigation was launched resulting in the dismissal of all seven men.
Mr Sharp and Mr Lewis sued Xylem Water Solutions for unfair dismissal, arguing that the outcome of misconduct process had been ‘pre determined’.
An employment tribunal found there were ‘genuine concerns’ but chose not to award compensation, finding the executives would have been fired even if correct processes has been followed.
The case was originally heard in Exeter in 2020 but the final judgment was only published this week.
Two senior male executives have been sacked for marking women out of ten for their looks in a WhatsApp group (Stock Image)
Richard Sharp and Dean Lewis, along with five colleagues, also made other ‘highly derogatory’ sexual comments, including fantasies involving one manager (Stock Image)
The hearing, was told Mr Sharp was the general manager for building services and had worked at Xylem since 1990 while Mr Lewis, managing director of sales and marketing, had been there since 1982.
In January 2018 the pair were invited to join the WhatsApp group called ‘Xylem Massacre’ with five colleagues, who shared a string of the offensive messages.
That September, the general manager who had set up the group chat was investigated for bullying and harassment.
At the same time a whistleblower reported the chat group. The messages were found on the manager’s work phone, and the participants suspended, though not told which messages were the basis for the sanction.
On September 28 Mr Sharp and Mr Lewis were both notified of their dismissal for gross misconduct but evidence at the tribunal showed that on the two days beforehand HR was already drafting a notice announcing the dismissal of the seven men.
Mr Sharp and Mr Lewis appealed against their dismissals, but were unsuccessful. At the tribunal they claimed the disciplinary process was unfair.
Employment Judge Hargrove concluded there were ‘genuine concerns’ including the ‘considerable speed’ of the process.
But he found they both would have been dismissed in a fair disciplinary process.
