Unfair dismissal? Embarrassing situation

[Sunnytimes21]

Hi, posting on behalf of my adult daughter. She has been text by her boss advising she no longer has a job. She's been there about a year on a zero hour contract but works about 30 hours a week. The text body said he had gone through her cardigan pocket on her week off and found a wrapped used tampon. He said she was 'tragic' and he hoped she'd learn from her mistake, but he doubts it and that she no longer has a job there. I admit, it's not ideal because she works in a kitchen.
She's since been contacted by her former colleagues, who are all aware of this, as he has told everyone.
I've advised her to go to citizens advice as to me, mistakes are made, but there is no need to shame her, sack her and call her names. She's distraught. What do you think?

Her manager has handled it poorly and unprofessionally but she doesn’t have any rights so she needs to move on

I've no idea but I can't imagine the clothes were hanging up in the kitchen. Sorry I can't be clearer, she only told me about this on the phone this morning and I didn't ask where they were. But yeah, I agree, I didn't think old tampons smelt either!

I don't think it's unfair dismissal - especially as she has been there less than 2 years. It's gross - even more so if in a kitchen.

But her manager is being very unprofessional, telling other people is bad

I disagree with the majority and think that's unfair tbh. A warning would suffice surely as the embarrassment of what happened would ensure it never happened again!

Whilst unhygienic, it was a mistake and a mortifying one at that! Send her on a food hygiene course or something! Remind staff to take all belongings home with them? I can think of a few ways this could have been dealt with that didn't involve a sacking, providing she was an otherwise good employee?!

OP, look at it from the boss' point of view. If there had been a H&S inspection he could have been closed down. All her colleagues could have been out of work due to her oversight.

It's a professional kitchen ffs.

I understand you want to protect your daughter, and youngsters make mistakes, but hygiene is pretty fundamental in a kitchen.

Just let her learn from this and move on.

It does seem harsh to fire someone over this but honestly going to work in a. Kitchen with that In a pocket was a seriously stupid thing to do. If she was at a friend's house why didn't the friend have any bins, who doesn't have a bin in the bathroom? Or just wrap in tissue and into the kitchen bin, just seems odd to go to work with it In a pocket in the first place.

Poor her that's unfortunate and dealt with really badly. If it never left her pocket it's mot a hygiene issue and he shouldn't have gone through her cardigan. Think she should fight back.

Bless her. Hopefully one day she will laugh about this.

I have accidentally done similar before, although not at work. It did not smell - it was wrapped in toilet tissue and dried out

I would want to understand what led him to need to search her pockets

Her uniform wouldn't have been in the kitchen so why was he going through her pockets?

I think she’s well out of there with that idiot of a boss.

He was a flaming asshole, but no grounds of recourse for that I dont think.

Chalk this one up to experience - some people are real pricks to work for.

Who wears a cardigan working in a kitchen?

Im going to disagree with the majority of PPs and say that that way he handled this could amount to sex discrimination and harassment. She doesn’t have a right to claim unfair dismissal with less than 2 years service but there is no length of service requirement for a discrimination claim.

It would depend on the facts and wider context of course and would need a conversation with ACAS or a solicitor to know if she actually has a case.

Bringing a tribunal claim can be time consuming, expensive and stressful though so it would still need careful consideration even if she does have a potential case. The tribunal transcripts are public too which could become embarrassing for her.

She could also explore early conciliation through ACAS before deciding whether to take it any further. Again, it needs a conversation with ACAS.

Having said all that, it may well be far better for her to just move on. I hope she’s doing okay, she really has been treated terribly and I’m sure is feeling quite bruised by the whole experience.

I'm surprised a chat full of grown women are so offended by a forgotten tampon. For a start, I'm assuming it was in a staff room, and she hadn't been swishing it around in the soup. I left a tampon wrapped up in a side pocket of a beach bag one year. I didn't find it until a few weeks later, there was no 'vile stench', just a dried up tampon. The manager has handled it horribly, but it's the restaurant/ bar industry, so it doesn't surprise me. Lots of jumped up little picks in my experience. If it were my daughter, I'd just advise her to look for something else.

If it stunk will it would of done there would of been a smell in a food environment it’s perfectly reasonable to investigate where it’s coming from which he did
it’s not the fact it a tampon
it’s the fact she left unsanitary bodily fluids in a working food environment this isn’t sexual harassment/ discrimination

The cardigan wouldn't have been in the kitchen surely? i assume it was in a staff room?

I would let this go and if anyone ever mentions it just deny it ever happened.

I don't think there's anything she can do about it.

It is unsanitary & there's no justification for both disposing of it.

As others have said, there isn’t a lot she can do.

The name and shame was crap imo.
The going through her pockets was not appropriate.
And if she is not wearing the cardigan in the kitchen, then there was no H&S issues.

It sounds more than he is one of those men who can’t cope with women having periods tbh.

But …. She still can’t do a lot about it.

His behaviour was appalling but with only one year service, there's not a lot she can do. She can complain he disclosed what she did to everyone else, but that would bring even more attention to what happened and it's unlikely she would get her job back.

The discrimination law wouldn't apply as she had options to dispose of it. It's crappy to get fired because she forgot.

Posters reacting like she has deliberately hidden a rotting corpse under the kitchen sink are OTT. Street clothes would not be in the kitchen to begin with. Even uniforms are unlikely to be stored there.

Awww bless her

Used Tampax don't smell, they dry out very quickly. People banging on about maggots and such are talking rubbish.

I agree it's less than ideal and her ex boss didn't really have any other option given they work in a kitchen.

But it wouldn't have been causing an obvious hazard so I would be questioning why he thought it was appropriate to go through her pockets.

Her boss could have handled the situation better, and with more discretion, but he has a business to run that relies on clean, sanitary conditions.

i think she just needs to write this one up as a tough life lesson not to be repeated.

This. Though they do need to be providing a suitable means of disposal

Seriously? I suspect it smelled and there were complaints in a food setting. What terrible terrible advice.