A former RAC call-centre worker claims he was sacked for inappropriate behaviour at work after he kissed his co-worker wife on the cheek in the office. Martin Singh, 37, said he gave wife Ruby 'a peck' as encouragement because she was shy and had only recently started working in the motoring services firm's Bristol office after having their four children.
But he said after just two months of the couple working together in the telesales department he was shown the door because of his show of affection.
'I'm sitting at the desk and she comes in,' he said. 'I give her a peck on the cheek, so we're both touching cheeks.' Mr Singh claimed his wife was then told to move away from him and added: 'I was like, that's a bit heavy.
'I don't like my wife being spoken to like that in front of the others, especially when we're on the phone and customers can hear you.
'If I'm kissing my wife, that's my wife of 17 years, not a stranger. It's someone that I will live and die with, so what's wrong with that?'
Mr Singh, who like his wife found his job through a recruitment agency, said after a meeting with four senior members of staff he was told he was being released from his temporary job.
He added: 'I came out and said 'I've been sacked for kissing my wife on the cheek. People said 'What?'
'From day one I was harrassed there. I want either financial compensation or to be reinstated.
'My wife is really upset. She says that when she walks into work it is not the same.
'We thought the job was perfect. I'd told my wife that once the kids had gone to school she could start work.
'I said to her that I'd help her get a job and we'd work together. We went down to recruitment agencies in Bristol and saw RAC - we thought that's perfect.'
Mr Singh said his wife had not worked before because living in a traditional Sikh household it was seen as her duty to look after their children. The RAC defended their decision and said the dismissal followed three earlier disciplinary offences.
It is understood the other breaches were wearing casual trousers, using his personal phone at work and watching videos online during a shift. A spokesman said: 'Mr Singh was an employment agency temporary worker who was at our Bristol site for ten weeks.
'After four breaches of workplace code of conduct in this short time, we informed the agency we no longer required his services.'
'We place great importance on workplace standards, none more so than in our call centres. Our workplace code of conduct exists to protect and serve our customers’ best interests and to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation.'
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