Bus company manager wrongly sacked after filming colleague’s Morecambe and Wise striptease

A bus company manager who was wrongly sacked for gross misconduct after he filmed a colleague’s Morecambe and Wise striptease performance has been awarded compensation.

Geoff Lovejoy, an operations manager at C.E. Jeatt & Sons, a bus and coach service in Ascot and Windsor, has been awarded over £52,000 for the unfair and wrongful dismissal at a tribunal hearing in Reading.

In Dec 2020, he recorded Sean McAleer, a friend and company cleaner, dancing around their office to The Stripper by the David Rose band, in a scene reminiscent of the comedy duo’s classic performance.

Mr McAleer was videoed playing with the zip of his cardigan before removing it, tossing it to one side and ending up “sprawled out” on a desk.

But despite working in an office full of “horseplay” and “camaraderie”, Mr Lovejoy was accused by fellow workers of “grooming” and “goading” his colleague to do it.

After being fired for gross misconduct, he sued bosses for unfair and wrongful dismissal, insisting that he had not forced Mr McAleer, who had been his friend for over 30 years, to strip.

In what was described as a “jovial pre-Christmas act”, the bus operations manager used his phone to record a 42-second “strip dance” performed by the cleaner to the music – described to the tribunal as “his song”.

Describing the clip, Naomi Shastri-Hurst, an employment judge, said that Mr McAleer can be seen “hovering just in the doorway, waiting for his cue, for the music to start”.

“Shortly after the song begins to play, Mr McAleer enters the doorway to the office and proceeds to move about, initially playing with the zip of his cardigan, and eventually removing it and tossing it to the side.

“He moves to the music, and ends up sprawled on [Mr Lovejoy’s] desk.

“I note that Mr McAleer appears to be smiling, looking into the phone camera; he clearly understands that he is being filmed.”

The Stripper was popularised in a Morecambe and Wise sketch from 1976 which featured the comedians performing a dance using various kitchen utensils and food items in time with the music.

The hearing was told that in March 2021, the operations manager was accused of using a company phone to take two videos of a non-work related conversation he had with Mr McAleer.

He was investigated by bosses, at which point – six months after it happened – the dance incident was raised, and Mr Lovejoy was accused of “goading” and “grooming” Mr McAleer.

In August 2021, Mr Lovejoy was sacked for gross misconduct.

At the tribunal, the bus operator admitted that his dismissal had been unfair and wrongful and that his use of the company phone was “nothing out of the ordinary”.

Mr Lovejoy – who now works as a bus driver for another company – was awarded a total of £52,190 in compensation.