An NHS worker whose bosses called him a ‘wasp’ that needed ‘swatting’ has won a £10,000 payout for the ‘detrimental treatment’ he endured.
Maintenance worker and health and safety union rep Franco Villani, 56, was deliberately targeted by managers at York Teaching Hospitals Facilities Management in an effort to undermine his union activities.
In November 2024, an employment tribunal heard that his direct managers had criticised his ‘snaky’ manner after he raised health and safety issues with senior management.
In one email exchange, in June 2023, electrical services manager Nigel Watkinson wrote: ‘that wasp needs swatting!!!!’ after Mr Villani asked to meet a safety inspector in private away from a manager.
Two weeks later, Mr Villani’s concerns that a ‘serious accident’ might occur after a gas safety technician found a ventilation system had failed and commented that it was fortunate that staff ‘hadn’t passed out’.
The tribunal also found that managers had encouraged other employees to submit formal reports about the maintenance worker in September 2023, in an effort to discourage him from getting others to submit their safety concerns through the system.
Two months later, in November, the hospital’s estates officer, Sarah Goldsmith, ‘lost control’ and shouted at the NHS worker of more than 27 years, telling him that ‘everyone was fed up of him’ and ‘nobody likes him’.
After this, he went off sick for more than a month.
Maintenance worker and health and safety union rep Franco Villani (pictured), 56, was deliberately targeted by managers at York Teaching Hospitals Facilities Management in an effort to undermine his union activities
His direct managers had criticised his ‘snaky’ manner after he raised health and safety issues with senior management. He worked at Bridlington hospital
Mr Villani was awarded £10,000 in compensation for the distress and harm he endured.
The tribunal found that the management’s 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’.
He 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.’
Unite the Union has expressed concern that Mr Villani’s direct line manager, who was involved in the ‘wasp’ email exchange, remains in role.
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 NHS worker whose bosses called him a ‘wasp’ that needed ‘swatting’ has won a £10,000 payout for the ‘detrimental treatment’ he endured
A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
‘The Trust accepts the Tribunal’s outcome, and we apologise to Mr Villani for his experience in this case.
‘We maintain productive relationships with all our trade unions and professional bodies, and the incident described does not reflect the broader, constructive working relationships we have with them.’
