Member deliberately targeted by senior managers in attempt to undermine his trade union activities. Employer called him a "wasp” that needed “swatting".
 
A Unite member and workplace rep, supported by his union, has won an employment tribunal following detrimental treatment by his employer for carrying out trade union activities.
 
Mr F Villani was employed by York Teaching Hospital Facilities Management LLP and acted as a workplace rep for the Unite union at Bridlington Hospital. The tribunal found that Mr Villani, a long-standing health and safety representative, was deliberately targeted by senior managers in an attempt to undermine his union activities.
 
The tribunal found that there had been repeated incidents where management had attempted to limit his union role and had encouraged colleagues to submit workplace complaints against him to deter him from continuing to report health and safety concerns. This was part of a wider pattern of hostility towards his union activities.
 
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "It is shameful that union members and reps are still being targeted in this manner as if this was still the 1930s. That this was an NHS trust makes it all the more disgraceful. 
 
"Mr Villani is a vital union rep  keeping his colleagues safe and well at work. Yet he was the target of management at the hospital. Unite will never stand for such behaviour and I'm delighted the tribunal found in his favour. This must act as a stark lesson for other employers who may be tempted to try and treat union reps with anything less than respect and dignity."
 
An internal email exchange from June 2023 revealed senior managers using derogatory language about Mr Villani, referring to him as a “wasp” that needed “swatting”. The tribunal found that this language exposed the employer’s intention to suppress his union activities rather than address any genuine workplace issues and they wanted to “clip the claimant’s wings”.
 
Ultimately, the tribunal upheld Mr Villani’s claims and ruled in his favour, ordering the employer to pay £10,000 in compensation for the distress and harm he endured. Unite has expressed its concern, however, that the manager in the email exchange remains Mr Villani's line manager and that other cases of trade union intimidation and detriment have been reported from the same employer.
 
Mr Villani said:  "It saddens me that I have had to go through this process to protect the hospital patients, visitors and staff. The unacceptable treatment that I have been subjected to has had a detrimental effect on me."
 
Neil Guss, employment lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors, who represented Mr Villani, said: “This case highlights the inappropriate and detrimental treatment of a dedicated union representative who was simply carrying out his duties. The judgment reinforces the vital protections that trade union representatives rely on.

 
“Our client was targeted simply for ensuring workplace safety, and instead of being supported, he was intimidated. The Tribunal rightly found these actions unlawful."
 
The ruling highlights the role of employers in upholding the rights of trade union members.