Sticks and Stones: The Industrial Appeal Tribunal's Code of Practice on Name Calling
| Author | Rob R. Jerrard |
| Date | 01 January 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9606900112 |
| Published date | 01 January 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ROB R. JERRARD, LLB, LLM
STICKS AND STONES: THE
INDUSTRIAL APPEAL
TRIBUNAL'S CODE OF
PRACTICE ON NAME CALLING
Do we still repeat that old adage, "sticks and stones will break my bones
but names willnever hurt me"? In the armed forces and the police service
it is generally said,
"if
you
can't
take
ajoke
you shouldn't have joined".
In most organizations, nicknames are a result of an "incident" - often
an amusing one. I have been called a few names in my time - some were
insulting while others mademe smile. Names or, more tothe point, insults
can hurt. My wife says she can still remember that in 1972 (serving as a
policewoman)she was called a "sweet faced bastard". She still remembers
how deeply it hurt because it was personal.
If
recent cases are anything togo by, some people aregoing overthe top.
Clearly there has to be a limit, as the cases discussed will show. Men give
nicknames whereas women rarely do. Take, as an example, the report of
the army officer who is suing the Ministry of Defence and named officers
for episodes of humiliating bullying during which he was allegedly called,
"ten inch". Because other officers believed him to be a "virgin soldier",
they felt this would make him more attractive to the opposite sex, but
would it? Apparently almost everyone in the mess had a nickname: one
officer was called "bed pan" and the doctor's wife "nurse whip".
It was reported in
(I
993)The Times, September 11, that a woman aged
19 claimed to have been so severely bullied at school that she attempted
to commit suicide. She was suing her education authority because she said
it had done nothing to prevent the attacks. The action, brought in the Court
of Session (Scotland's highest civil court) was believed to be the first of
its kind in Britain. The woman, who did not wish to be named, was
claiming £30,000 compensation from Lothian Regional Council. She
alleged that staff at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, failed to protect her
from the bullying campaign she had to endure. She said she was subjected
to two degrading physical assaults of a sexual nature and was also
nicknamed "thunderthighs" by the gang of girls and boys who terrorized
her. The bullying became so bad she took a drug overdose. After she
recovered from her suicide attempt, shewas forced to leave theschool and
enrol elsewhere.
Another relevant case was discussed in (1994) The Times, September
21: an industrial tribunal in Glasgow was told how a woman business
graduate ended up in a psychiatric hospital and seriously contemplated
suicide because of a constant stream of sexual harassment. The woman,
who worked as a financial consultantin Glasgow, told the hearing that she
88 The Police Journal January 1996
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