'Horrified' | Lewd secret santa gift in work chat made new hire quit after just 8 days

A worker at a Morrisons-owned abattoir walked out of his job after just eight days, claiming he had been "singled out" in a workplace group chat involving a lewd Secret Santa gift.

Barry Cochrane, who began work as a healthy & safety specialist for meat supplier Woodheads (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morrisons) on 11 December 2023, said he felt "horrified and ridiculed" after discovering that senior managers had shared an image of a heat-sensitive mug which, when hot, revealed the slogan “I LOVE TEA BAGGING” and a cartoon of male genitals wrapped in a bow tie.

Employment Judge M A Macleod found the 54-year-old’s claims of sexual harassment and breach of contract were “disproportionate” and not credible, dismissing the case in full.

Group chat joke escalated quickly

The mug was given anonymously to senior manager David Orton during a team meeting on 12 December. Suspecting it might be inappropriate, Mr Orton opened it at home and later posted a photo of it to the team’s Gmail chat with the caption: “I think I need to have a word with Santa!”.