A teenage ambulance worker who was called a 'f***ing f****t' by his boss has been awarded £20,000 in compensation.
Liam Gallimore, who was aged 18 at the time of the abuse, told an employment tribunal that he was subjected to homophobic abuse from Sue Hill-Venning after he started working as part of Medipatrol.
Liam, from Stoke-on-Trent, said that the instances of abuse, which began 'instantly' after he started working for the company, 'were too frequent to set out in detail in his statement' but that Ms Hill-Venning used 'clearly homophobic' terms like 'f****t', not only in reference to himself, but other LGBT members of staff.
Mr Gallimore, now 20, said that a lack of support from Ms Hill-Venning made it impossible for him to finish a training course, and that three other members of staff joined on the homophobic abuse against him, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
A paramedic, who gave evidence at the tribunal, said that Mr Gallimore told her of the abuse, and that his mental state 'was comparable with some of the mental health crises' that she has seen in her role.
Employment Judge David Hughes said that he found Mr Gallimore, who stopped worked at Medipatrol in October 2020, 'a credible and reliable witness'.
He said: "I also accept that the reason for the lack of detail in Mr Gallimore’s statement is because the homophobic abuse to which he was subject was too frequent for individual instances to be identified readily. I accept that he was subjected to regular homophobic insults by Ms Hill-Venning. I accept that these happened often in front of other people, and that some other employees joined in.
"I accept that the impact on Mr Gallimore was significant. He was a young man. He told me that he felt able to be out at the workplace, but had come to regret it because of the abuse he received."
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