Charity worker fired for calling boss a t*** in text meant for wife sues for unfair dismissal
A charity worker has claimed unfair dismissal after he was sacked for mistakenly calling his boss an “idiot” in a message to his wife.
The employment tribunal heard that Simon Hill was sacked after he accidentally sent a message to his manager Ben Wheeler.
Mr Hill was expressing frustration over a problem with the company car and in the text dismissed Mr Wheeler’s explanation of the problem as “nonsense”.
But instead of sending the message to his wife, he accidentally sent it to Mr. Wheeler.
He later apologized in person but was dismissed due to “an irreparable loss of trust”.
He has now filed a lawsuit in the labor court, alleging both unfair dismissal and whistleblowing.
A full hearing into the allegations is scheduled to take place at Reading Employment Tribunal in Berkshire at a later date.
A preliminary hearing in Reading was told Mr Hill started working at LT Charity in May 2024. He was dismissed in March 2026.
In March 2026, before his dismissal, he discovered that one of the company’s cars had not been taxed.
This was only discovered after the car broke down and the RAC didn’t turn up as they saw on the DVLA website that it was tax exempt.
Mr Hill told line manager Mr Wheeler via WhatsApp and another employee, Karen Williams, via email that the vehicle had not been taxed.
Between the two messages, he wrote a WhatsApp to his wife in which he described Mr Wheeler’s knowledge of the vehicle’s tax exemption as “bulls***” and called him an “idiot”.
However, Mr Hill mistakenly sent the message to Mr Wheeler instead of his wife.
Read more: WhatsApp messages that could get you fired
He apologized to Mr. Wheeler as soon as he realized it and went to the office the next day to apologize in person.
He also spoke to the company’s HR team about the incident and an investigation was launched, which led to disciplinary proceedings.
The company accused him of using inappropriate language, profane language, and disclosing confidential company information.
He was later told that he had been terminated “due to an irreversible loss of confidence”.
Mr Hill requested a review, but the company’s CEO approved the decision.
He took claims of unfair dismissal and making protected disclosures (whistleblowing) to an employment tribunal in Reading.
He applied for temporary relief, which prevents plaintiffs from experiencing financial hardship in court cases, but his application was denied.
The remainder of his claims will be considered at a later date.
In court, Employment Judge Wendy Anderson concluded: “[L T Charity] admitted that a protected statement was made by [Mr Hill] By WhatsApp message to Ben Wheeler at 09:19 and email to Karen Williams at 10:33 on 2 March 2026.
“The communications were about the fact that: [L T Charity’s] The vehicles were tax-free and had been for several months.
“This [L T Charity’s] this is the situation [Mr Hill] He was dismissed after accidentally sending a WhatsApp message to line manager Ben Wheeler at 9.43am on 2 March 2026. [Mr Hill’s] He says his wife and Mr Wheeler gave him information about the tax-free vehicle as bulls*** and called him an ‘idiot’.
“[Mr Hill] The dismissal letter stated that the dismissal was due to the use of unprofessional language that was detrimental to his relationship with Mr Wheeler and the disclosure on WhatsApp of confidential business information regarding the untaxed vehicle.
“If the vehicle had not been taxed there would not have been a protected disclosure and therefore the WhatsApp message to Mr Wheeler would not have been written down, but I am not persuaded at the final hearing that the court could conclude that this meant the two acts were inextricably linked.
“He accepts that not paying tax on the vehicle was a genuine mistake. The language used on WhatsApp was disrespectful and [Mr Hill] “I agreed that WhatsApp should not have been sent.”
