A concierge who was sacked after he missed a disciplinary hearing because he couldn't figure out how to work Microsoft Teams has won a disability claim.u
Daniel Hayes faced a remote misconduct hearing two weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic but didn't know what the popular video conferencing software was.
When the hearing was rescheduled on Teams a day later, the concierge at a luxury London apartment building again missed it and was 'annoyed' it was not explained to him how to attend.
Rendall & Rittner, which claims it is 'London's leading independent managing agent', held the hearing in his absence and he was sacked.
But now, Mr Hayes - who faced disciplinary proceedings for allegedly throwing a bag of poo and urine at a van - is in line to receive compensation after successfully suing the building management firm.
An employment tribunal ruled Rendall & Rittner failed to make a reasonable adjustment by not reorganising the hearing for a third time by phone.
Mr Hayes, who suffers anxiety, was left in 'extreme distress' after twice not being able to access the Teams hearings, the tribunal heard.
Mr Hayes, employed by Rendall & Rittner from April 2019, worked at the Long and Waterson apartment building in Shoreditch, London.
In February 2020 contractors who Mr Hayes had 'animosity' with complained to the company about an incident.
A tribunal report said: "Contractors complained... someone had put a bag on a contractor’s vehicle which was said to contain excrement and was soaked in urine.
"[Rendall & Rittner property manager Ross Facta] looked at the CCTV and found footage of an item landing on the van. He then found footage of Mr Hayes throwing an item from the area known as the podium above the van.
"He also found footage showing him coming out of the staff room, walking through the foyer with something in his hand before going up to the podium."
When investigated, Mr Hayes claimed he threw a 'tissue'.
He was called to a disciplinary hearing as the pandemic hit and was invited to attend a Teams hearing on March 31, 2020.
The report said: "[Rendall & Rittner] prepared a Microsoft Teams invitation whereby a hyperlink was sent by email.
"This email did not give any instructions as to how to join. Microsoft Teams could be accessed via the internet by clicking the link.
"We accept Mr Hayes did not know what Microsoft Teams was, he did not have a camera on his desktop computer and could not connect.
"This was week two of the first pandemic lockdown. Many people did not know at that stage about Teams and had not used it."
After 20 minutes of waiting, a HR adviser rescheduled it.
"Another Teams link was sent to him", the report continued. "[He was warned] if he did not attend without reasonable cause or explanation then a decision may be taken in his absence.
"Mr Hayes did not attend."
Mr Hayes "did not try to find out about how to attend the disciplinary because he was both extremely anxious and because he was annoyed that the company had not given him an explanation of how to attend", it was heard.
He said to the HR adviser 'he did not know what Microsoft Teams was and asked her how she was so confident that he could use it at home'.
Mr Hayes even expressed his anxiety was so bad he had thoughts of taking his own life.
Employment Judge Moor, sitting at the London East tribunal, said his anxiety was a factor in him not accessing Teams.
Judge Moor said: "We have concluded that there was a substantial difference between his ability to respond to the connection difficulties and a non-disabled person’s.
"We have considered this with some care. It has not been an easy decision.
"It was a substantial difference because his extreme anxiety was very much part of the reason why he did not try to find an alternative way to attend the hearing on the day.
"A non-disabled person would not have had this additional mental obstacle."
Judge Moor said Rendall & Rittner 'ought to have known' his anxiety was a factor in him not contacting them about Teams and concluded they were unreasonable in proceeding in his absence and not rescheduling a third hearing by phone.
Mr Hayes, who was sacked on April 9 2020 following the hearing in his absence, won a claim of failure to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee.
Compensation will be determined at a later date. Mr Hayes lost other claims of unfair dismissal, harassment, and whistle-blowing.
At the disciplinary hearing, Rendall & Rittner concluded Mr Hayes was guilty of misconduct for throwing the object from the building deliberately, but that Mr Hayes was not aiming at the bin lorry and it was not conclusive as to what was inside but that he 'could have' urinated on it.
