An AA recovery driver with autism has won a payout of over £20,000 for disability discrimination after he was sacked for joking about dropping his colleagues “on their heads”.
Adrian Lloyd-Penny said during a phone call that he was going to drop night manager Lyndon Tyler and dispatcher Dave Boddison “from a third storey bl**dy window, the pair of them on their heads” after his autism “flared up” over a perceived error made by the pair, an employment tribunal heard.
Mr Lloyd-Penny, who worked at the Enfield Depot in north London and had joined the AA in March 2023, was told later that month he had failed to pass his probation after managers found his comments “incredibly inappropriate”.
He subsequently sued his employer for disability discrimination, as his autism made it difficult to process information, making “meltdowns” more likely.
The tribunal, held in Watford, ruled that while it was appropriate for the employer to “take action” against remarks, they did not prove there were less discriminatory measures that could have been taken to resolve the issues.
The tribunal saw a transcript from a telephone call in which he told a handler: “Aaahh, I hope to God I never meet the manager that I was dealing with or the dispatcher that gave me this job, cos I’ll drop them from a third storey bl**dy window, the pair of them on their heads.”
Mr Lloyd-Penny apologised on that same shift, the tribunal heard.
Mr Tyler forwarded on the transcript from the call to management and said that Mr Lloyd-Penny could be fine on one call and “argumentative and unreasonable” on another.
However, he and his dispatcher said they took “no offence” and thought “he was clearly joking”, the hearing was told, although Mr Tyler added that “someone who’s circumstances were different could’ve taken that call and been extremely upset my it”.
That same month, the driver was invited to a probation review meeting with his manager, Michael Townsend, who dismissed him because “no one should be coming into work at risk of being shouted and sworn at”.
When asked if he remembered the incident where he joked about dropping his colleagues “from the top story window”, Mr Lloyd-Penny said the pair had “flared up” his autism, adding “I can’t control my autism”.
The tribunal upheld Mr Lloyd-Penny’s disability discrimination claims because they ruled the employer breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments, such as informing Mr Lloyd-Penny about the possibility of an Occupational Health referral.
Employment Judge Patrick Quill added that they did not suggest it would have been reasonable to expect AA to tell call handlers “that they had no choice other than to put up with any and all abuse”, but they rejected the argument that there weren’t more options available to the employer.
Other claims made by Mr Lloyd-Penny were dismissed.
The court assessed a financial loss at £8,138.28 with interest of £1,113.05, as well as an additional injury to feelings valued at £11,000 with interest of £1,668.38.
