A manager at Circle K allegedly told an employee to “come on, be a man” while insisting he supervise a homeless man cleaning his own faeces in a toilet at a Dublin location, reports Breaking News.
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator Jim Dolan has ordered Circle K to pay €1,000 in compensation to shop supervisor Siddarth Thirunavukkarasu for a single incident of harassment involving the remark “come on, be a man.”
Mr Dolan said Mr Thirunavukkarasu viewed the comment as harassment, adding that it was “very difficult to disagree with the complainant”, reports Breaking News.
As part of an internal grievance review, manager Julita Howe denied making the “come on, be a man” remark.
In his complaint, Mr Thirunavukkarasu said that Ms Howe confronted a homeless individual outside a toilet at the Circle K Belgard branch in southwest Dublin and told him she would call the gardaí if he didn’t clean up the faeces—something the man reluctantly agreed to do, reports Breaking News.
Mr Thirunavukkarasu claimed Ms Howe then directed him to supervise the homeless man as he cleaned, despite the fact that he felt nauseous due to the strong smell and was uncomfortable.
Despite repeated refusals, Mr Thirunavukkarasu alleged Ms Howe insisted he stay, and even allegedly reprimanded him for wearing a mask without prior approval.
When he returned, Mr Thirunavukkarasu saw the homeless man handling the waste with his bare hands, which made him feel even more disturbed, reports Breaking News.
He further alleged that Ms Howe told him to hand over gloves and a blue towel to the homeless man.
He claimed she then gave him a firm instruction to hold the toilet door open and monitor the man cleaning, to make sure the mess wasn’t spread around.
Mr Thirunavukkarasu refused, reiterating his nausea and strong aversion to the situation, reports Breaking News.
Nonetheless, he alleged that Ms Howe pushed him to comply by saying, “come on, be a man,” pressuring him to remain and observe the cleaning.
Mr Thirunavukkarasu said that in the end, Ms Howe directed him to clean what was left of the mess himself, even though he felt ill, while no similar requests were made of other employees, reports Breaking News.
He said he felt unfairly singled out and poorly treated. In his complaint, Mr Thirunavukkarasu also highlighted a lack of proper training for such incidents and argued that no staff should be expected to handle extremely unsanitary conditions.
During the grievance process, HR business partner Sara Murphy examined the “be a man” comment, noting that there were no witnesses and that Ms Howe denied ever making it.
Ms Murphy concluded that “as a result, this point cannot be substantiated”, reports Breaking News.
Assistant store manager Zahida Mustaq supported Mr Thirunavukkarasu’s account that he had been asked to clean the toilet.
Ms Murphy’s investigation confirmed that Ms Howe had first told the homeless individual to clean the toilet, and then directed the complainant to finish the job when it wasn’t properly done.
Her findings stated this didn’t breach the bullying and harassment policy, reports Breaking News.
However, she determined that Ms Howe should have understood that the homeless man was not mentally fit to carry out the cleaning correctly, and that directing Mr Thirunavukkarasu to do so—despite his clear objections—was not consistent with the dignity and respect policy. This aspect of the complaint was upheld.
Responding to the harassment claim about the “be a man” remark, Circle K stated that—without conceding the comment was ever made—if those words had been used, they were meant as a figure of speech rather than discriminatory, simply alluding to the fact that the complainant is male, reports Breaking News.
Circle K argued that referring to Mr Thirunavukkarasu as a man did not cause harm or alter his terms of employment, and therefore it could not be considered gender-based discrimination.
The company also stressed that it had followed proper procedure by thoroughly investigating the complaint, reports Breaking News.
It pointed to its bullying and harassment policy, which outlines a zero-tolerance approach to such conduct, and noted that staff receive training on these policies.
In his ruling, Mr Dolan determined there was no discrimination or victimisation by Circle K against Mr Thirunavukkarasu, reports Breaking News.
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