'Unpleasant & hostile' | Calling a colleague a 'nutter' could be harassment, tribunal hears

Calling a colleague a “nutter” or similar names could amount to harassment by creating an “unpleasant and hostile” environment, an employment judge has warned.

The ruling was made during the case of Ms C Maynard, a Royal Mail worker who claimed race discrimination and harassment. Ms Maynard, who has worked at the Croydon Mail Centre since 2001, said she was racially harassed and discriminated against by colleagues between 2020 and 2023.

Tribunal examines claims of verbal abuse

Providing context for the allegations, the tribunal report noted: "Ms Maynard is black, while Ms Pereira and many other members of the group are of Pakistani heritage. Ms Maynard alleges that this group has subjected her to bullying in a variety of forms, including making fabricated allegations of misconduct / bullying against her."

Ms Maynard, who represented herself at the hearing, alleged that a colleague, Ms Darr described her as “a nutter, an ugly bitch, mentally ill, grossly ugly,” and suggested she had “no friends and that nobody liked her.” She also claimed Ms Darr later called her a “cow,” a “nutter,” and a “psychopath.”

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Employment Judge MJ Reed found that while there was insufficient evidence to establish the specific incidents from May and June 2021, “it seems to me that the most likely scenario is that Ms Darr did speak in disparaging terms of Ms Maynard along the lines that Ms Maynard suggests.”