“Do you have pictures of your daughter in her new school uniform?” When a woman asked this question, it was fine.
When a 44-year-old man asked, he got fired.
And just about everyone at r/legaladviceUK agrees it was right to fire him because it was super creepy.
But the OP has autism of a severe enough nature that he’s just landed his first job at 44. And he says (and for the purposes of this post and discussion, we will believe him) that he was copying his coworker’s behavior with the express idea of bonding with coworkers.
I don’t know anything about UK law, but I do think this is an interesting case. If this were a US case, should the company have treated him differently because of his autism? (He says people knew he was autistic.)
What kind of accommodations are practical and necessary under the ADA?
Is there a world in which this results in a conversation with the employee rather than termination?
I am assuming OP is a man, but it’s possible that OP is female. But if he is a man, this adds another layer. A female employee asked a question, and a male employee asked the same question, and only one was terminated.
This may have been the 14th time he said something inappropriate. It may have been the first. If it was the first time, then I think a discussion would be in order. If it’s the 14th, then yes, termination.
What do you all think?