Tesco worker wins sex discrimination claim after PTSD incident

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A Tesco worker who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has won a sex discrimination claim after he was trapped in a room by his female boss.

Mr King, who is 6ft tall, said his line manager Ms Francis had “falsely imprisoned” him at work. He then said his complaint was ridiculed by other managers, who said he could not be frightened by a “little woman” – Francis is 5ft 4in.

King told the employment tribunal that he had been “berated” by Francis in December 2018 because he was not being as flexible as she would like around his availability for shifts.

At the time he was studying to become an electrician and was balancing another job with his hours at Tesco in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

There had already been meetings to discuss his absence, where King had discussed a change in medication for his PTSD. The new medication was giving him side effects and making him “angry and bitter” by his own admission.

Then in December 2018, Francis, who was five months’ pregnant at the time, took him into a staff room to discuss his shifts, but King felt uncomfortable and went to open the door to leave.

He told the tribunal that Francis put “her foot against the door” and “physically prevented” him from leaving the room. CCTV footage then showed him squeezing himself out of the door.

King had told managers at Tesco about his PTSD, which had been triggered by an incident when he worked for the Prison Service and was held hostage.

He was then signed off work in February 2019 after a relapse of his PTSD left him unable to leave the house without crying.

He had provided Tesco with sick notes during this time but was dismissed for repeatedly failing to show up for work and not attending a disciplinary meeting. However, Tesco said i