It's not harassment to point out 'messy' work, tribunal says

Senior HR manager's disability discrimination claim is dismissed

It's not harassment to point out 'messy' work, tribunal says

An employment tribunal in the United Kingdom has ruled that it is not harassment to point out that an employee's work can be seen as "messy."

While these comments can be perceived as "unwanted," an employment judge said these are reminders for employees on where they could improve to progress in their career.

The remarks stem from the case of a senior HR operations manager, who claimed disability discrimination after his manager called out his "messy" work during an end-of-year review.

The manager's boss said the employee made typos in emails, as well as used capitals when they shouldn't be in sentences.

"As his manager I am generally okay with this, as I know it is because he is super busy and is rushing to get onto the next thing," the employee's manager said in the review document.

"However, I don't think this is good for his personal brand when dealing with stakeholders from across the globe as it can be seen as messy work."

The HR manager said he was "devastated, hurt, and profoundly upset," as well as "humiliated and ashamed" because of the comments.

He said that he has ADHD, and believed that any issues with spelling or grammar were "dyslexia traits" as a result of his condition.

Was it harassment?

But the employee did not disclose his condition to anyone at work until after the alleged act of discrimination, the tribunal noted.

The employee has also resigned after finding other work, and claimed that he was prompted to leave after his boss's description of his work as "messy."

But the employment judge said the manager's claim of disability arising discrimination requires the alleged discriminator to have actual or constructive knowledge of the disability relied on by the claimant.

It further concluded that the comments from his boss did not amount to unfavourable treatment.

"Firstly, the comments were not in any way false or inaccurate. It is not in dispute that the Claimant had repeatedly made significant presentational errors in documents," the judge said in the ruling.

The comments were also made in the context of a template question designed to take comments about flaws or weaknesses in performance.

"The making of spelling and grammar errors in professional documents is, self-evidently, a weakness," the judge said. "If a manager cannot be explicit about a weakness in performance, there is a risk that an entirely well-meant warning will not be taken on board by the employee."

The judge added that they were prepared to accept that the comments were "unwanted" from the manager's perspective given that most employees would prefer not to have weaknesses pointed out. But it also underscored the purpose of those comments.

"The purpose of the comments was to remind him of an area in which he needed to improve to progress in his career," the judge said. "In short, [the] comments do not begin to approach the very high threshold for harassment."