A Waitrose chef won a four-figure settlement after he told his boss to “go f*** yourself” for sending him a message on a weekend.The sushi chef filed a harassment complaint against kiosk manager Sumin Lohani and WhatsApped him in the early hours of a Saturday.

Mr Mainali told his former manager he had been “very wrong” to disturb him with a message about his rota and rudely replied to him.

The exchange resulted in a row between the pair that reached its apex with a violent confrontation at the Godalming, Surrey supermarket’s sushi counter.

In his complaint, Mr Mainali claimed the message had been sent to him directly in a “deliberate attempt to disturb him” and “encourage him to leave.”

The sushi chef, who maintains he was “forced out” of the job, has now been awarded £7,678 after he took Mr Lohani to the tribunal for breach of contract.

He however lost his harassment complaint after a judge ruled his former manager had not been trying to disturb him on purpose with his texting.

Mr Mainali owned 30 percent of the business operating the sushi kiosk inside the Waitrose branch, with Mr Lohani owning the remaining slice.

The pair had been working together for years and had known each other since childhood, having hailed from the same village in Nepal.

But their friendship was put under strain after Mr Lohani sent his partner a massage about their schedule past midnight in January 2020.

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The Watford tribunal heard: “On January 4, 2020, at about 00:29, Mr Lohani sent out the rota for the following week. He sent it to the employees of [the company] who would be working at the kiosk that week, including [Mr Mainali].

“He sent it via WhatsApp. He did not send it to [Mr Mainali] only. He did not choose the time of sending to annoy [Mr Mainali] or anyone else.

“He had thought that people would read the message when convenient to them, and had not expected them to read/respond straight away (and no response was necessarily required, unless there was a problem working the specified shifts).”

The claim continued: “[Mr Mainali’s] phone made a sound when this message was received.

“That had not been Mr Lohani’s intention; he had simply given no thought to that possibility. [Mr Mainali] and his family were asleep, and were disturbed by the phone alert.”

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The sushi chef angrily wrote that “this is very wrong to post at midnight. Go f**k yourself.” Mr Lohani replied: “Watch your mouth, I didn’t ask you to check now’.”

Tensions between the pair continued to brew until they erupted into a physical confrontation a few weeks after the text messages were exchanged.

Mr Lohani accused Mr Mainali of “becoming very aggressive and trying to punch him” while holding a knife, while his partner claimed he tried to headbutt him.

The tribunal, however, dismissed both claims as exaggerated and said the confrontation involved some “pushing and shoving.”

Mr Mainali later left the company and claimed to have been discriminated against because of “mental issues which include anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks.”

His complaint that he was forced to leave without his contracted six-month notice period was upheld and found to be a breach of contract.

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