Waitrose sushi chef who told his boss to ‘go f**k yourself’ after he was sent his rota on Whatsapp in early hours of the morning before pair had furious bust-up in supermarket aisle wins £7K payout for breach of contract
- Hemanta Mainali was furious at the late night message which contained the rota
- Sushi chef told boss Sumin Lohani it was ‘very wrong’ to bother him at that time
- He took him to employment tribunal claiming the message was to force him out
- Tribunal dismissed his harassment claim but his upheld breach of contract claim
A Waitrose sushi chef who sued for harassment after his boss sent him his rota on Whatsapp after midnight before the pair had a bust-up in the supermarket aisle has won over £7,000 in a breach of contract claim.
Hemanta Mainali was furious after being woken in the early hours of a Saturday morning, telling majority shareholder and his boss Sumin Lohani, with who he ran the kiosk in the Godalming store in Surrey, it was ‘very wrong’ to bother him at that time of night.
An employment tribunal in Watford heard that he responded to the message with ‘go f**k yourself’.
Mr Mainali claimed the rota had been sent directly to him, not to a group chat, and was a ‘deliberate attempted to disturb him’ and even ‘encourage him to leave’.
His relationship with Mr Lohani deteriorated so badly that a fortnight later, the pair ended up having a violent confrontation in public at the sushi counter of the supermarket.
Mr Mainali ended up leaving the business and sued his former partner for harassment and breach of contract, claiming he had been forced out as part of a deliberate campaign.
The relationship between the two men deteriorated so badly that a fortnight later, they ended up having a violent confrontation in public at the sushi counter of the Waitrose store in Godalming, Surrey.
At the tribunal, Mr Mainali lost his harassment claim as a judge ruled that Mr Lohani had not meant to disturb him on purpose by sending the message after midnight. But, he won his claim of breach of contract, as he was forced to leave without his contracted six months notice period.
As a result, he was awarded £7,678.
Mr Mainali owned 30 per cent of the firm which operated the sushi kiosk at the Waitrose store, with Mr Lohani owning the rest.
The pair had known each other since childhood, having both come from the same village in Nepal.
The tribunal heard that Mr Mainali started working at the supermarket in June 2018, and was paid £1,500 a month.
However, the relationship between the two men became ‘strained’ in January 2020 when Mr Lohani sent a rota for the upcoming week to several employees via WhatsApp in the early hours of a Saturday morning.
‘On January 4, 2020, at about 00:29, Mr Lohani sent out the rota for the following week. He sent it to the employees who would be working at the kiosk that week, including Mr Mainali’ the tribunal heard.
‘He sent it via WhatsApp. He did not send it to Mr Mainali only. He did not choose the time of sending to annoy Mr Mainali or anyone else.
Hemanta Mainali was furious after being woken in the early hours of a Saturday morning, telling majority shareholder and his boss Sumin Lohani (pictured) that it was ‘very wrong’ to bother him at that time of night
‘He had thought that people would read the message when convenient to them, and had not expected them to read/respond straight away (and no response was necessarily required, unless there was a problem working the specified shifts).
‘Mr Mainali’s phone made a sound when this message was received. That had not been Mr Lohani’s intention; he had simply given no thought to that possibility. Mr Mainali and his family were asleep, and were disturbed by the phone alert.’
The tribunal heard he angrily responded ‘This is very wrong to post at midnight. Go f**k yourselves’, to which Mr Lohani replied ‘Watch your mouth, I didn’t ask you to check now’.
Just weeks later, the pair had a confrontation at the sushi counter.
Mr Lohani accused Mr Mainali of ‘becoming very aggressive and trying to punch him’ while holding a knife in his hand – while the chef said his business partner tried to headbutt him.
The tribunal found that both men’s account of the incident was exaggerated and only involved some ‘pushing and shoving’.
‘Between the two of them before matters became too overheated, there was a realisation that having a very aggressive interaction in Waitrose during opening hours was not sensible for themselves as individuals, or for their business venture,’ the panel found.
The hearing was told Mr Mainali left the business – called New Godalming Sushi Ltd – at the end of the month, before taking the company to the tribunal claiming to have been the victim of a ‘campaign’ to force him out of his job.
He claimed he had been discriminated against due to ‘mental health issues which include anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks’, and alleged he had been ‘bullied and verbally abused in front of staff’.
His complaints of harassment and disability discrimination were dismissed.
Of the WhatsApp message, Employment Judge Patrick Quill said: ‘Mr Mainali suggested that the WhatsApp message of 4 January was a deliberate attempt to disturb him, and perhaps encourage him to leave. We find that that is not the case.
‘Even if he is right in his belief that it was sent to his own contact address, not just to the group contact address, that does not indicate that he was being targeted or deliberately disturbed at night.
‘As a co-owner of the business and somebody also responsible for drawing up rotas, there is nothing suspicious about the item being sent to him directly (if that was in fact the case).’
Mr Mainali’s complaint that he was forced to leave without his contracted six months notice period was found by the tribunal to be a breach of contract.
The damages will not be paid until a further hearing.
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