UK warehouse worker unfairly sacked for making Michael Jackson ‘hee hee’ noises

A warehouse worker in Britain was ruled to be unfairly dismissed after he made Michael Jackson noises around a colleague. Photo / Kevin Mazur

A warehouse worker in Britain who was fired after being accused of doing Michael Jackson impersonations directed at a colleague was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has found.

Lucasz Zawadzki was accused by his colleague of making the late pop star’s famous “hee hee” high-pitched noises and was later fired by his employer.

But he has now been given £10,611 ($24,317) in compensation after the Manchester Employment Tribunal ruled his dismissal was not reasonable, The Sun reported.

A colleague, referred to as SM, reported to his manager in December 2023 that he had been a victim of bullying, the Independent reported.

The colleague accused Zawadzki of impersonating Jackson, making monkey noises and being racist at the Co-Operative warehouse where they worked, the tribunal heard.

Zawadzki denied making any monkey noises and impersonating Jackson as he did not want to “bully or hurt someone”, the Independent reported.

The tribunal heard that despite denying the claims, he was suspended after an alleged breach of the bullying, harassment and discrimination policy, according to the Independent.

The outlet reported Zawadzki did admit to making “orgasmic” sounding grunting and moaning noises at work.

He admitted the “embarrassing and juvenile” sounds were not appropriate for the workplace but said that they were not racist.

Zawadzki claimed the colleague, who complained, showed no signs of being offended during their 18 months working together, The Sun reported.

In March last year, Zawadzki was fired and a month later appealed to the general manager, arguing the decision had been made before he could make his case, The Sun reported.

The meeting did not go well as the tribunal heard Zawadzki banged his fist on the table in anger before leaving, according to The Sun.

Employment Judge Carol Porter, ruling in Zawadzki’s favour, said in her judgment: “In essence, the misconduct of the claimant was inappropriate and juvenile conduct in the workplace.

“There was no satisfactory evidence before the dismissing officer that that particular admitted conduct was offensive to SM, or caused him distress.

“There was no satisfactory evidence before the dismissing officer that the claimant had, by making those noises, engaged in bullying or harassment.

“The claimant gave clear evidence, which was not contradicted, that he had worked with SM for a long time and SM had never told him that he found this inappropriate and juvenile behaviour offensive.

“Dismissal did not fall within the band of reasonable responses.”

The Co-operative Group were ordered to pay Zawadzki the sum, which was halved after the tribunal found his workplace manner was unprofessional, The Sun said.