April Fool can lead to May court case

As some of us may have noticed recently, April Fool’s Day tends to bring out the usual assortment of pranks and japes. And even the licensed trade can get involved.

Last year, the UK trade publication

The Morning Advertiser reported that an American company, Hi-Snacks, had set about marketing Canny-Crisps, its new cannabis-flavoured pub snack. The company’s marketing director Mary-Jane Roach (groan!) pointed out that the crisps were self-fulfilling in that they also solved the problem of Canny-Crisp customers getting a case of the “munchies”.

Should the 50 gramme ‘sharing packs’ have proved successful, the company had been considering some possible brand extensions along the lines of Oxy flavour or Salt and Crack Black Pepper.

The same publication also reported on the launch of chocolate beer glasses from Fuller’s Brewery “to celebrate the perfect match that is chocolate and beer”.

But readers were advised to make the most of the offer while it lasted because the glasses would only be around for a limited time – “especially in hot weather”.

And some years ago Pizza Hut offered a pizza-flavoured beer through its Pepperoni Pilsner.

Litigious

But what may have been a riot in former times may prove to be less kindly regarded in today’s litigious-conscious environment for employers.

“It’s imperative that employees are made fully aware that although a harmonious and fun environment is welcomed, any actions that may be perceived as offensive, intimidating or threatening will not be accepted in accordance with their company’s policy, ethos and culture regarding dignity and respect in the workplace,” warns Moira Grassick, chief operating officer at Peninsula Ireland, who’s heard some “wild and wacky calls” on the company’s advice lines at Peninsula. taking a claim. The matter was eventually settled before tribunal with the employer incurring a cost.

That’s how easy it is to offend in these sensitive times.

While not an April Fool’s prank either, the following more serious case is an example of a so-called ‘prank’ gone wrong.

Prank gone wrong

What may have been a riot in former times may prove to be less kindly regarded in today’s litigious-conscious environment for employers.

She cites one case – not an April Fool’s Day prank - where an employee claimed that he was being continually humiliated at work. One specific incident witnessed the head chef asking the kitchen porter in front of everyone to go to the stock room for a litre of “cooking water”. When the hapless employee returned to the kitchen after quite some time spent searching fruitlessly for cooking water, everyone laughed and the head chef said, “I can’t believe you fell for that”.

However, as a result the employer was tied up in lengthy investigations and a subsequent disciplinary hearing, all of which didn’t prevent the employee from

Beware the Booze Monkey

It is often the practice of underage teenagers to hire the services of a ‘Booze Monkey’, which the Urban Dictionary defines as being ‘a person of legal drinking age whose task it is to buy alcohol on behalf of persons not of legal drinking age during nights out or other social gatherings’.

Such Booze Monkeys appear to be a fairly common occurrence in today’s licensed trade and can be difficult to detect. One might even suggest that it’s a case of hidden monkey, crouching teenagers….

Thinking it would be funny a kitchen porter pulled down another employee’s trousers in the kitchen. The employee was understandably very distressed and left the premises mid-shift. Later, the employee’s parents arrived at the restaurant demanding to speak to the kitchen porter and the owner of the business who wasn’t on site at the time.

This caused a scene with customers in the restaurant. The employee raised a complaint and as the employer had no HR policies in place, he didn’t know how to handle the situation.

A third party was engaged to conduct a sexual harassment investigation and a subsequent disciplinary hearing resulted in the kitchen porter being dismissed.

But any firing without making use of the correct protocol is likely to fail and even, er, backfire. “Although these occurrences may bring some laughter, the consequences far outweigh the acts themselves,” warned Moira Grassick, “Employers are reminded to ensure that employees are fully aware of acceptable conduct in the workplace, especially on days such as April Fool’s,” she warned.

Licensed wisdom

Some of our best celebrity quotes down through the years:

“Live that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip” – anon.

“The closest I have to a nutritionist is the Carlsberg Beer Company.” – Colin Farrell some years ago.

“I often sit back and think, “I wish I’d done that’ and find out later that I already have.” – Richard Harris, actor.

“Life for a GAA player isn’t all beer and football. Some of us haven’t touched a football in months” – Kerry Inter-County Footballer (1984).

“He goes not out of his way that goes to a good inn.” – anon. n

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