The judge said the defendant had intended to “ridicule and intimidate” his former employee – The incident took place during the pandemic
It cost Kevin Davis dearly coughing in front of a former employee’s face during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kevin Davies – the father of Welsh rugby player Gareth Davies – started na “ridicules and intimidates” the woman while she was expressing her health concerns, the court heard.
Specifically, 62-year-old Davis, who owns a car and real estate business, taunted his former employee shortly before the lockdown, while she expressed her health fears to her colleagues because she suffered from psoriatic arthritis and an autoimmune condition. In fact, he had asked them to keep their distance, as the health services had said at that time.
However, her boss did not share her concern and coughed in her face.
Judge Tobias Vincent Ryan said Davies “coughed in her direction deliberately and loudly, commenting that it was ridiculous”. He added that Davies had deliberately tried to “taunt and intimidate” the woman with his “effortless demeanor” on March 17, 2020 – a week before the first lockdown was announced.
The hearing was told the woman had worked for Cawdor Cars from 2017-2020 and was earning £11 an hour. The company has six branches in south and west Wales. It also has a rental property division where the woman worked as a property manager. However, three months after the coughing incident occurred the woman resigned from the business.
Ryan said: “He resigned in part at least because he was the victim. This was a major factor in her decision. He was right” he said.
The judge ordered that the woman receive as compensation the amount of 26,438.84 pounds approximately 31,000 euros– with Cawdor Cars awarding her £18,000 for mental anguish and Davies paying £3,841.94 for unfair dismissal and £4,596.90 in interest.
The victim speaking in court said that while her employer was aware of her medical condition, “he knew I had no immune protection due to the medication I had to take, and he purposely coughed on my face. I was shaking. I’m not a silly, fluffy person – I’ve been through a lot in my life – but it really got me down.”
Source :Skai
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