Two senior executives at Xylem Water Solutions have lost their unfair dismissal claims after being sacked for participating in a WhatsApp group that shared sexist, racist, and offensive content.
Two senior executives at Xylem Water Solutions have lost their unfair dismissal claims after being sacked for their involvement in a WhatsApp group that contained offensive and discriminatory content. Richard Sharp, general manager for building services, and Dean Lewis, managing director of sales and marketing, were dismissed along with five colleagues after investigators uncovered the group chat, titled “Xylem Massacre.”
The messages included women being rated out of ten for their looks, “highly derogatory” sexual comments about colleagues, racist and Islamophobic “jokes,” mockery of the company’s harassment policy, and discussions of “upskirting” involving a named female employee. A whistleblower first raised concerns in 2018, with investigators finding the messages during a separate bullying inquiry.
Despite arguing that their dismissals were predetermined, employment Judge Hargrove ruled the men would have been dismissed regardless and declined to award compensation. The tribunal accepted there were “genuine concerns” about the disciplinary process but upheld the company’s decision.