An employment tribunal has ruled that a warehouse worker accused of impersonating Michael Jackson was unfairly dismissed and awarded him more than £10,000 in compensation.
Lucasz Zawadzki was fired from his job at a Co-Operative Group warehouse after a Black colleague accused him of racist behaviour, which included making monkey noises and high-pitched “hee hee” sounds to mimic the late pop star.
The Manchester tribunal heard that the colleague filed a bullying complaint in December 2023. During the subsequent investigation, Mr. Zawadzki admitted to making “embarrassing and juvenile” noises at work, which he acknowledged were “not appropriate” and could be described as “grunting and moaning.” However, he firmly denied impersonating Michael Jackson or making monkey noises, stating he never intended to “bully or hurt someone.”
In her judgment, Employment Judge Carol Porter found that Mr. Zawadzki’s conduct was inappropriate and juvenile but concluded there was no satisfactory evidence that it was directed at his colleague, caused him distress, or amounted to bullying or harassment.
The judge noted that Mr. Zawadzki had worked with the complainant for a long time and had never been told the behaviour was offensive. She also found that he had not received any prior warnings and was unaware of a company zero-tolerance policy regarding such conduct.
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