Young mum left jobless in nightmare ordeal as abuse at Pizza Hut exposed
A budding policeman had his career left in tatters and a young mum found herself jobless after the pair complained about shocking abuse aimed at staff inside Pizza Hut.
In their first interview, Kailam Fearn and Sian Murphy encourage others who may be witnessing similar behaviour, or suffering themselves, to take action. The pair lifted the lifted the lid on a toxic workplace culture of sexual remarks, transphobic, homophobic and racist behaviour within the popular fast food chain.
Their exposure of the appalling working environment at two branches in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, made headlines throughout the UK and while their courage came at no small cost, the pair were ultimately vindicated at an employment tribunal. Today, they remain resolute, Kailam saying "people need to speak up" and Sian adding: "You don't have to go to work and feel uncomfortable."
Initially however the outlook appeared far bleaker. The pair of whistleblowers had been working for two separate branches of Pizza Hut in Neath Port Talbot run by the same franchisee and overseen by the same area manager, and both dreaded going into work each day. They became friends after meeting on nights out organised by staff employed across the franchises, and were soon confiding in each other about what was going on at work.
Ultimately they agreed to raise complaints but then found themselves sacked as a result - and their dismissals had knock-on effects. Special constable Kailam had only been volunteering for a few months with South Wales Police when he found himself suspended from the force, while new mum Sian Murphy lost her first job since giving birth to her son.
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It all looked so different when they began working at Pizza Hut. Kailam, 27, had joined the fast-food restaurant in March 2020 as a delivery driver while in his final year at university and was quickly taken on full time and promoted to shift manager.
He soon began to realise the atmosphere was not right when he was on shift with area manager Dean Green at the Port Talbot store. Kailam told the Mirror: "There were comments, that he'd probably call banter, that would make me uncomfortable, but when I started working full time, I'd have to spend a lot of time with Dean. Even when he was not on shift he would call in multiple times a day, it was like we were at his every beck and call.
Special constable Kailam Fearn was suspended while the investigation took place (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Sian was a young mum when she was subjected to sexual comments (WALES NEWS SERVICE)"He'd make sexual comments, comment about disabled people, people with mental health problems. It seemed like he had a dislike of people in general. It was constant and over a long time. I was in charge of hiring people and he made a comment about not wanting me to employ anyone who was disabled or with any mental health problems.
"He called Pizza Hut the Mental Health Boys Club and he said he was going to end the contract of anyone with a mental health problem. I was extremely concerned about my own job as I have anxiety myself, but I was also worried about everyone else who worked there. That was the icing on the cake."
Work life for Sian over at the branch in Neath, which like Kailam's was one of five owned by franchisees Salamaan and Javeria Rasul of S&J Enterprises Wales Ltd, was equally as bad. Also promoted to shift manager, having worked at another pizza restaurant before her son was born, she was now under the wrath of manager Rhys Stephens.
Sian, 28, told the Mirror: "Every shift I'd have to do a hand over to Rhys or I'd be working with him for the shift, and from the very first shift his attitude was bad, telling me it wasn't his job to train me. But once he became more comfortable around me it was awful.
"He was always shouting, swearing at people, he would never back down once he started shouting at someone. Mistakes happen when you are at work, but we just came there to do our job, it was never necessary to speak to people like that. I would dread going in. You'd hope that he was in a happy mood, and you could just keep him chatting.
"But when he was in a good mood, he'd make sexual remarks, I don't think he fancied me, I don't think he even liked me, but the sexual remarks would keep coming. You'd either have him screaming and shouting or it would be the sexual comments. Three other female members of staff complained about his behaviour but they all just left. Once I was promoted I thought I have a chance of fixing this from the inside, I thought I could do something about it."
The pair say they would do the same thing again (WALES NEWS SERVICE)Kailam and Sian resolved to take a stand and complained about the behaviour of their managers - only to find themselves dismissed for gross misconduct in June 2021, with claims levelled against them including theft. In response the friends took their case to an employment tribunal.
For Kailam, the allegation gave South Wales Police no choice but to suspend him and investigate, though after eight months the force concluded the accusations were malicious and he was reinstated as a special constable. Kailam said: "This has really affected my mental health and my confidence. One day I had been promoted to shift manager and had started my volunteer job with the police, and all of a sudden it got ripped away from me. It has been really, really hard."
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However the extent of what Kailam and Sian had been forced to endure soon became clear when their case was aired the employment tribunal. It heard that Kailam was sent a Snapchat photo by area manager Dean Green which showed him in the bath watching the store's CCTV on his mobile phone. Mr Green also told him he had "sexy legs" and asked if he wanted a threesome.
Mr Green referred to a transgender staff member as "it" and refused to learn the name of a foreign-born employee, calling him Barry instead, adding that he had "no obligation to learn how to say his real name".
The tribunal heard that when Sian from Resolven, was sexually harassed by Neath store manager Mr Stephens, who said her nipples were "like cut diamonds" when she was in the cold store. He also said "she shouldn't bend down like that in front of men" when she picked something off the floor. Mr Stephens was heard to used homophobic slurs against a gay colleague, but the hearing was told his were "jokes" and "banter".
Along with Kailam, Sian won the employment tribunal with complaints about wrongful dismissal and sexual harassment successful. The tribunal ruled the franchise owners did not reprimand either manager and "simply accepted their denial of events".
The tribunal also ruled that neither Kailam or Sian had been given proper employment contracts. It also ruled Ms Murphy was wrongfully dismissed for gross misconduct, with stealing, poor performance and breaching social media policy being the reasons given. Ms Murphy had proof she paid for a bottle of water she was accused of taking, while her poor performance amounted to selling an out-of-date salad to a customer. Tribunal chairman Samantha Moore said Salamaan and Javeria Rasul made the false theft allegations about Kailim to South Wales Police in "retaliation" for him pursuing them for unfair dismissal.
Asked if, despite the more than two years of turmoil the whistleblowing case has caused to their lives, the friends think they did the right thing in speaking up, both Sian and Kailam are in no doubt.
Kailam told the Mirror: "If people in the same position would ask me what to do, I would tell them then have to speak up, but bear in mind it can be hard, but you absolutely need to do it, otherwise people in these positions get away with it, and you are going to allow it to happen to other people."
Sian added: "I would 100 per cent do it all over again. People need to understand that you do not have to be treated like this at work. You don't have to go to work and feel uncomfortable."
The pair's lawyer Emma Quenby, from Baker Ashley, added: "This is a really endemic problem. This is not just about Kailam and Sian, this is about employees working in huge brands nationwide, there are many people who, like Kailam and Sian need to speak up about what is going on."
A Pizza Hut UK and Europe spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the outcome of the tribunal regarding franchisee S&J Enterprises Wales Limited. We take these incidents very seriously and this behaviour has no place in our business. We have strict processes in place that we expect all our franchisees to follow, however with the appropriate authorities involved, we will not be commenting further."
Kailam and Sian's story comes as research by The Barrister Group revealed that almost a third of people have been sexual harassed at work and one in four worked with a sexual predator, who many claimed was so bad that they had warned other colleagues about them.
Earlier this month, fast food giant McDonald’s was today accused of being “riddled with sexual harassment” - as its boss admitted it had received hundreds of staff complaints. MPs heard damning evidence about the treatment of staff, some as young as 16, often by older male managers. It follows an investigation by the BBC which exposed a toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying.
Alistair Macrow, boss of McDonald’s in the UK, offered an unreserved apology as began giving evidence to a committee of MPs. “The testimony is truly, truly horrific,” he said, as he vowed to “eradicate” the chain of those responsible.
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