'An accident' | Worker sacked after exposing genitals on Teams call

An employee who exposed his genitals during a virtual work meeting has lost his claim for unfair dismissal and race discrimination after the tribunal found his actions amounted to gross misconduct and a breakdown of trust.

The Employment Tribunal, sitting in London, heard that the claimant - referred to only as DB - was dismissed from his role at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) after standing up during a Teams meeting with external contractors while naked from the waist down, inadvertently revealing his genitals to others on the call.

Accidental exposure on work call

The incident took place on 8 May 2023, a UK bank holiday, during a remote call between DB and Capgemini staff based in India. Tribunal documents show that DB stood up to adjust a laptop cable and “revealed he was wearing nothing from the waist down,” with his genitals visible to attendees.

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He later told his line manager it was an accident and apologised, claiming he did not realise the camera was on and deleted the recording to prevent others from viewing it. However, the video was recovered and reviewed as part of the investigation.

“That was a bank holiday and l did not realise when l folded the laptop camera was on and pointing to the floor and then immediately shut down the camera so that don't know what was seen in the floor,” the employee explained. “lt is just an accident and apologies.”