A Weetabix manager who was forced out of his job after his boss shouted at him has won a legal case.
An employment tribunal heard that Gary Mobbs was subject to "unprofessional and abusive" language from John Petre, who used "humiliation" to "get the best" out of staff.
The Health and Safety manager initially offered his resignation, but decided to stay after Mr Petre promised to change his ways, claiming he was "open to operating differently".
However, the tribunal was told that the situation at work did not change and Mr Mobbs formally resigned after an unsuccessful grievance and subsequent appeal.
He then sued Weetabix and won his claim of constructive dismissal as an employment tribunal ruled the company had destroyed trust and confidence between it and Mr Mobbs. He is now in line for compensation.
The tribunal was told Mr Mobbs began working at Weetabix in 1993 and was promoted to Health and Safety manager at the firm's headquarters in Kettering, North Northamptonshire, in 2012.
It was heard that as a "senior leader" Weetabix "expected" Mr Mobbs to "robustly engage" with the senior leadership team, including Mr Petre's "direct management style".
Mr Mobbs told the tribunal that for him, the first 25 years at Weetabix had been "happy" before Mr Petre became Quality and Compliance Manager in 2018.
At that point, Mr Mobbs started to "experience difficulties" in his working relationship with his new boss, due to his "uncompromising" management style.
By September 2018, the relationship had degenerated so much that Mr Mobbs verbally resigned because of Mr Petre's outbursts.
However, the tribunal heard after a meeting, which eventually saw him retract his resignation, Mr Petre agreed to "change his behaviour".
Despite that, Mr Petre was found to have continued with the same management style, in which he would "sometimes overstep the mark".
He told the tribunal he did, "on occasion", use words to "humiliate" - as part of his attempt to "get the best out of people".
Giving evidence, he accepted his language was "inflammatory and unhelpful" but he spoke like that to "hold people to account".
In one of a number of incidents, Mr Petre told Mr Mobbs: "Im p***** off, when I ask for this completing, I want it completing" - for which he apologised afterwards.
Mr Petre also called one of Mr Mobbs' colleagues a "f***ing idiot", "useless" and asked "what the f**k" another was doing when sending a document.
When Mr Mobbs asked to bring forward a meeting to avoid a diary clash, Mr Petre replied "don't inconvenience me with your poor organising skills... sort yourself out", refusing to accommodate.
After an incident in October 2019, Mr Petre told Mr Mobbs it was his job to provide him with investigation information and if there were any failures, he would "publicly humiliate" the employees.
The tribunal heard Mr Petre directed "unprofessional and abusive" language at Mr Mobbs and other colleagues.
Following that, in November 2019, Mr Mobbs raised a grievance against Mr Petre for his conduct in the workplace - but none of his complaints were upheld after the company decided there was "no evidence of unacceptable or intimidating behaviour".
However, the tribunal, held in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, ruled the decision summary "lacked accuracy in places" and did not take Weetabix's Dignity at Work Policy (DWP) into account.
The hearing was told that during the grievance process, Weetabix, nevertheless, promoted Mr Petre to the position of Supply Chain and Technical Director.
When Mr Mobbs appealed the grievance outcome, it was rejected, with Mr Petre's behaviour being explained as his "management style" and down to a "lack of emotional intelligence".
After being signed off work from November 2019 until June 2020 by his GP, in the "last straw" Mr Mobbs was asked "challenging questions" by an AXA Occupational Health nurse about whether he would be able to "engage in challenging conversations" upon his return.
He consequently sent his letter of resignation to Weetabix, citing reasons as "bullying and harassment" by Mr Petre and what he viewed as an unfair investigation into matters by the company.
Employment Judge Kate Mary Hutchings said: "At the time [Mr Petre] used this language, he was aware, from the 2018 conversations, that Mr Mobbs found it difficult.
"Indeed, he said he would adjust his style mindful of how Mr Mobbs had told him he felt in 2018. He did not.
"I have found that Mr Petre used unprofessional and abusive language on the occasions Mr Mobbs identified, shouting at him and swearing about a colleague in front of Mr Mobbs.
"I have found that other staff told Ms Morton that Mr Petre's behaviour could be humiliating.
"I conclude that Mr Petre's behaviour to Mr Mobbs was sufficiently serious it was likely to breach the term of trust and confidence.
"The use of unprofessional and offensive language by Mr Petre on more than one occasion was likely to destroy Mr Mobbs' trust and confidence with his employer; therefore, Mr Petre's behaviour breaches the term."
Regarding the grievance process, she said the approach taken by the company was "not within the band of reasonable responses of an employer with the size and resources of Weetabix".
She described the summary as "simplistic" and added: "The investigation lacked balance and the outcome letter did not align to the evidence gathered.
"[It] concluded there was no evidence of unacceptable behaviour, intimidation, verbal abuse, degradation, humiliation or bullying. This is an overstatement not borne out in Mr Petre's own evidence or that of other witnesses.
"I conclude Mr Mobbs resigned in response to the breaches of the term of trust and confidence in the behaviour of Mr Petre, the handling by Weetabix of the grievance process and the handling of the OH referrals and not for some other reason.
"Therefore, I conclude Mr Mobbs was constructively dismissed."
A hearing will next take place to decide how much compensation he will be paid.
A Weetabix spokesperson said: "We are proud of our reputation as a fair and inclusive employer. We expect the highest standards of conduct from all Weetabix employees, so undertook a full investigation when this matter came to light.
"Whilst we respect the Tribunal judgement, we are confident in our grievance handling processes and the steps taken, so consider this matter closed."
