An autistic African American driver was dismissed after he joked about wanting to 'drop' two of his coworkers from a second-floor window, and he has received nearly £25,000 in a discrimination settlement.
Adrian Lloyd-Penny made the comment during an intense telephone conversation, stating he intended to throw night manager Lyndon Tyler and dispatcher Dave Boddison "from a third-floor bloody window."
The tribunal was informed that the recovery driver mentioned it in a joking manner after his autism "flared up" when he believed the two had made an error.
He later expressed regret, and both colleagues claimed they took 'no offence' as he was clearly making a joke, the panel was informed.
Nevertheless, his superiors summoned him for a meeting and terminated his employment, stating that his remarks were "extremely inappropriate" regarding causing damage.
Mr. Lloyd-Penny won a legal case against the AA for disability discrimination and has recently received £24,111 – with £11,000 allocated for emotional distress.
Judge Christopher Carstairs stated that it was appropriate for any 'responsible employer' to respond to such comments, even if they were presented as a 'so-called joke'.
However, the tribunal determined that his termination was excessive and supported his case.
Mr. Lloyd-Penny, who has an autism spectrum disorder, started his job at the AA in March 2023 as part of the Enfield Depot recovery team in north London.
The hearing in Watford addressed the conflict that occurred in August of last year when he became annoyed due to a supposed mistake made by Mr. Tyler and Mr. Boddison.
A record of the phone conversation included Mr Lloyd-Penny informing the contact: 'It's going to take me at least two hours, or possibly two and a half hours, to get home or reach the depot anyway.'
Ah, I pray to God I never come across the manager I was working with or the dispatcher who assigned me this task.
Because I'll throw them out of a third-floor bloody window, both of them upside down.
Mr. Tyler shared a transcript from the call via email during a discussion regarding 'interactions' with Mr. Lloyd-Penny.
The night manager mentioned that he is sometimes 'argumentative and unreasonable' over the phone, and added: 'Find below an example of a call to the office this morning where Adrian talked about dropping me and my recovery dispatcher off a third-floor window onto our heads!'
Please be aware that neither I nor my dispatcher take it personally, and he was clearly making a joke.
The manager stated that Mr Lloyd-Penny is "undoubtedly a highly skilled driver" and mentioned that the AA "should assist him with his condition."
Later in the month, the driver was called for a probation review meeting, where he was informed that it could result in his termination.
At the meeting, Mr Lloyd-Penny was questioned about whether he had ever displayed 'aggressiveness' towards staff members.
His manager questioned the driver: "Do you remember an event involving the indoor team where you told the call operator that if you saw the dispatcher and night manager that evening, you would go up and throw them out of the top-floor window?"
In reply, Mr Lloyd-Penny mentioned that the two staff members - Mr Tyler and Mr Boddison - had 'become agitated' and 'triggered' his autism, leading him to 'step away from the situation'.
However, his manager informed him that "threats of violence" and "speaking to someone in that way are not acceptable," leading to the termination of his probation.
Mr. Townsend stated, "No one should be entering the workplace facing the danger of being yelled at or cursed, and it is highly unacceptable to insult coworkers or make remarks about physical violence, even if such comments were intended as a joke."
The recovery technician filed a lawsuit against the AA, alleging discrimination based on disability.
Employment Judge Patrick Quill stated: 'Regarding how to handle remarks like those [made during the call] about dropping Tyler and Boddison from a great height, we acknowledge that any reasonable employer would seek to address, rather than overlook, such statements.'
That remains the case even if the remarks were made as a so-called joke and/or were evidently meant as a metaphor, rather than an actual threat to perform the action.
A sensible employer would aim to provide staff with a suitable workplace.
The judge stated that AA has 'clear legal responsibilities' towards its staff, such as 'statutory health and safety obligations'.
Nevertheless, the panel supported Mr Lloyd-Penny's assertions of disability discrimination.
The judge stated that Mr. Townsend's decision to terminate the employment was 'grounded on the premise that, due to [Mr. Lloyd-Penny's] autism... there existed a potential future risk of [him] speaking loudly and/or becoming angry and/or displaying aggression towards other colleagues or customers in the future'.
'We do not imply that it would have been reasonable to expect the [AA] to inform its call operators that they had no alternative but to endure any and all mistreatment from [Mr Lloyd-Penny], irrespective of his words or manner,' EJ Quill stated.
Nevertheless, we also disagree with the claim that the only two choices were either the proposal stated in the preceding sentence, or alternatively, rejecting [him].
The panel concluded that Mr Lloyd-Penny's apology to Mr Tyler following the remark was 'significant' in determining the 'proportionality of the dismissal decision'.
Additional allegations raised by Mr. Lloyd-Penny were rejected.
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