Police officer who said he was mocked for anxiety has case thrown out

Born again Christian police officer, 48, who claimed colleagues called him ‘Father Ted’ and mocked his anxiety and depression has his compensation bid thrown out for good by tribunal

• An ex-police officer, 48, said he was forced to quit due to mental health jibes
• Winston Roderick said he was asked if he had ‘his pants on his head’ by colleague
• A court of appeal upheld a tribunal’s decision to dismiss Mr Roderick’s case

A born again Christian police officer who struggles with mental health has lost an appeal after suing his bosses over claims his colleagues asked if he had ‘his pants on his head and pencils up his nose’ and called him ‘Father Ted’.

Ex-South Wales PC Winston Roderick, 48, said he was forced to quit the force after 14 years due to cruel colleagues mocking his anxiety and depression – alongside a host of other work problems.

He lost an employment tribunal on the matter last year and has now had his case thrown out by a judge sitting at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London. 

The Christian pastor had sued for disability-related harassment and complained of religious bullying, claiming a colleague told him Jesus ‘didn’t exist’ and the Bible was a ‘pile of nonsense’.

Judge Michael Ford KC said there was nothing wrong with the lower tribunal’s dismissal of his case.

The original trial found some claimed comments were never made and that the quip about having ‘pants on head’ – a reference from a Blackadder episode called ‘A Bout of Insanity’ – was ‘banter’ which Mr Roderick had said about himself first.

Ex-South Wales PC Winston Roderick (pictured), 48, lost an employment tribunal after claiming he was forced to quit after a colleague mocked his anxiety and depression

The born again Christian pastor lost an employment tribunal last year and has now had his case thrown out for good by a judge sitting at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London (pictured)

While working at the police station in Merthyr Tydfil (pictured), south Wales, Mr Roderick claimed he was subject to bullying about his religion and over his mental health

The appeal tribunal heard Mr Roderick began his police career in south Wales in 2003 and served as a constable until he resigned following a string of issues in December 2018.

He claimed a colleague at a unit in Merthyr Tydfil had ‘made fun’ of his mental health ‘illnesses’ – including disabling stress, anxiety and depression – by making light-hearted comments while at work.

But just because he had himself made the ‘pants on head’ quip first as a ‘coping mechanism’ following his struggles, it did not mean that others could do the same, he claimed.

Last year The tribunal found it was ‘banter’, despite his argument that it was a similar situation to a person of one race using an offensive racial comment about themselves, then seeing it inappropriately repeated and used by others.

Superiors on the force had also failed to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help him cope with the workload while ‘disabled’ by his mental health issues, he claimed.

He said he had been put into an environment at work with tight deadlines to process prisoners and found it so stressful that he felt ‘sick’ at the thought of going to work.

Mr Roderick’s religious and disability discrimination claims, as well as a claim of constructive dismissal, were dismissed because the tribunal found his resignation letter mostly focused on a ‘historical frustration at his lack of promotion’ 

But dismissing the appeal bid, Judge Ford said the issue had been a question of fact for the tribunal to decide.

Other officers had thought the quips were jokey references to Monty Python sketches, it said in its ruling.

‘The claimant had initiated it and it didn’t amount to harassment,’ he said.

‘It didn’t satisfy the statutory test of undermining the claimant’s dignity or respect.

‘This was a factual question…the tribunal was entitled to decide in the way it did.’

The judge also said the tribunal had been entitled to find on the evidence that Mr Roderick had not been subjected to religion-based bullying.

The tribunal had found the ‘Father Ted’ claim never happened and, in expressing a belief that Jesus Christ didn’t exist and the Bible was ‘nonsense,’ his colleagues had not been commenting on his religion, but in response to his ‘proselytising’ at work.

‘Someone who proselytises can hardly complain if others disagree, particularly if that person invites comments,’ said the judge.

He also rejected criticism of the tribunal’s finding that the force had not made ‘reasonable adjustments’ to help him cope with his work.

The tribunal had found that the reason for Mr Roderick struggling at work was not the specific unit he was in, but the stress he felt when working alongside properly ‘functioning’ colleagues.

Moving him to another role elsewhere would not have helped, it found.

Mr Roderick’s religious and disability discrimination claims, as well as a claim of constructive dismissal, were dismissed because the tribunal found his resignation letter mostly focused on a ‘historical frustration at his lack of promotion.’

It had concluded: ‘As the respondent put it, the claimant arrived in the Hub as a disgruntled officer and nothing changed in his attitude. We agree.’

The appeal judge backed the tribunal’s reasoning and rejected Mr Roderick’s appeal bid.

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