Words can hurt - your employees AND your business
Jul 21, 2025
Weirdo - it’s a pretty common word these days, and it’s also one lots of people wouldn’t bat an eyelid at.
But if we told you that the usage of that particular word has been responsible for a £17,000 award at an employment tribunal, you’d probably sit up and pay attention.
An autistic worker in a children’s centre in Wrexham asked for a few adjustments to his role that took his disability into account, including reducing background noise and bright lighting.
But rather than making those adjustments, his employers were found to have made comments that violated his dignity.
And one of those comments? You guessed it, calling him a weirdo.
The result being that having sued his employers, the worker was awarded £17,154.86 in compensation, including £15,000 for “injury to feelings”.
Now, we're not wading into the rights and wrongs of this – we're not judges, and that’s not our job.
Instead, our job is to keep business owners like you protected from tribunal, and ensure that if someone does try and take you to tribunal, you’re in the best possible position.
The story may seem innocuous to most business owners, but as an HR professional, it could so easily have been avoided, just by following proper process and getting good quality HR advice. Here’s what they should have done.
Implement reasonable adjustments promptly and with consistency
They failed to act on the request to reduce distracting music and bright lights, despite knowing these changes were necessary for his autism. Employers must not only agree to reasonable adjustments but ensure they are put in place and regularly reviewed to support disabled staff.
Maintain professional and respectful conduct
Negative and undermining remarks, especially from leadership, can amount to harassment and undermine an employee’s dignity. All staff, particularly managers, should be trained to avoid discriminatory language and behaviour.
Handle grievances fairly
The worker was suspended after raising concerns about his treatment. As an employer, you must take all complaints seriously, investigate them impartially, and never penalise employees for speaking up about discrimination or requesting adjustments.
Like it or not, the law means there is a right and wrong way to do things.
And if you don’t fancy going down the wrong route and writing a £17k cheque (or worse), maybe this is the nudge you need to finally get HR in place, protecting yourself, your business and your livelihood in the process?
Do you need help with your people management?
Whether you’ve got a specific HR query, you need your HR foundations in place, or you’re looking to build on those foundations and create a team that can function without you, we’d love to talk about how we can help you make it happen.
Give us a call on 01980 622167, or click below to book a call.
