Flatulent lawyer wins £135k payout after working from home request denied
23 March 2023, 19:21 | Updated: 24 March 2023, 01:43
A flatulent barrister who unsuccessfully sued the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for harassment after he was told by a colleague to stop breaking wind has won £135,000 in compensation for other claims.
Tarique Mohammed, who worked at the Government agency, said he couldn’t help farting as it was triggered by medication he was taking for a heart condition, a previous hearing heard.
The prosecutor argued that asking Mr Mohammed to stop passing wind was not only embarrassing, it violated his dignity.
However, the tribunal found that asking him to stop was a reasonable request for his colleague to make, given the small size of the office that they shared and the repetitive nature of the flatulence.
The allegation was part of a series of disability-related claims brought by Mr Mohammed against the CPS after he had a heart attack in 2014.
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He also accused co-workers and bosses of discriminating against him by throwing away his water bottles, asking him to work one day a week 60 miles away and failing to pay for his barrister’s practising certificate while he was on sick leave.
These claims, as well as the flatulence complaint, were thrown out by the tribunal.
However, Mr Mohammed has now been awarded £135,862 for other successful claims against the CPS.
The CPS accepted it had treated him unfairly by not allowing him to work remotely two days a week, leave work at 4pm to help him manage his condition and by removing him from court duties.
Mr Mohammed started sharing a small office with another prosecutor, Paul McGorry, in 2016, the hearing was told.
“After two or three days of [Mr Mohammed] working in the room, Mr McGorry noticed that [he] had flatulence,” the tribunal heard. “He did not know why.
“There were repeated incidents of flatulence in the quiet room. On one occasion Mr McGorry asked [Mr Mohammed], ‘Do you have to do that Tarique?’
“[Mr Mohammed] said it was due to his medication. Mr McGorry asked if he could step outside to do it. [Mr Mohammed] said that he could not.
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“The conversation ended there. Neither Mr McGorry or [Mr Mohammed] mentioned the matter again.”
Employment Judge Emma Hawksworth said: “Many of the incidents about which [he] complains were unrelated to his disability … or were caused or aggravated by [him] over-reacting.
Referring to the flatulence incident, she added: “Mr McGorry’s questions to [Mr Mohammed] were not asked with the purpose of violating [his] dignity or creating such an environment.
“It was not an unreasonable question to ask, when there had been repeated incidents of flatulence in a small office.”
The tribunal found the CPS was guilty of disability discrimination and failing to make reasonable adjustments for refusing Mr Mohammed's requests, ignoring recommendations from Occupational Health advisors and removing him from court duties.
The latest hearing to determine his compensation heard that the barrister felt “unsupported and vulnerable, angry and upset”.
Mr Mohammed urged the tribunal to make a recommendation to his employers that they “take steps to prohibit the spread of gossip and rumour about him”, but the tribunal refused.
