A CALL centre manager has launched legal action against one of the region's biggest employers after being sacked following an incident in which a man was kicked unconscious at his desk.

Mother-of-two Fay Hand was dismissed after bosses said she had not done enough to tackle bullying and harassment among staff at the EE offices, in Darlington.

But the 37-year-old from Wynyard Village, near Stockton, has taken the mobile phone company to an employment tribunal, claiming she was unfairly sacked after 17 years with the company.

The hearing at Teesside Magistrates' Court was told that an investigation was launched after a call handler kicked a colleague in the head as the man was sitting at his desk, leaving him unconscious.

The attacker later alleged that he had been provoked after being bullied by members of his team.

The man claimed that in one incident three weeks earlier a Fifa computer game was taken from his bag.

The game was later recovered, but a colleague took his car keys from his pocket and removed the game from his car, before holding it to ransom.

Fake disciplinary hearings were also held by team members, the tribunal heard.

Operations manager Mrs Hand was told about the incident with the game by the men's team leader.

The claimant told the team leader to check that the owner of the game was okay, which the team leader did.

But EE claims Mrs Hand should have done more to prevent the alleged bullying and taken action when she was made aware of it.

Tracey Dawe, EE employee relations specialist, who was involved in Mrs Hand's disciplinary case, told the hearing: "There should have been an investigation into the alleged taking of the keys.

"She didn't do enough when she became aware of it."

However, Ms Dawe agreed it was unfair that Mrs Hand had never been asked to explain during the investigation why she had not taken further action.

The hearing was also told Mrs Hand was not made aware of what Judge Gerald Johnson described as 'schoolboy pranks' which took place among the team - one of eight she managed at the time.

Judge Johnson asked Ms Dawe: "How can she possibly fail to prevent something she doesn't know anything about? She can't can she."

Seven people were sacked following the assault, including the victim, the attacker and the team leader.

The Northern Echo reported in January how Darlington MP Jenny Chapman held talks with EE bosses after concerns were raised about working conditions at the call centre.

Staff claimed that bosses at the company's Darlington site were acting in an unreasonable and heavy-handed manner.

In response, the company said it took seriously its responsibilities to its staff.

The tribunal continues today.

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