Homophobic verbal attack by Veolia Bin Man

[noahsdw]

Hello!

I was on a walk today with my boyfriend around the block on Copleston St/Danby St at mid day. A man wearing a 'Veolia' high vis bib pulling out brown compost bins from each house stared at us and shouted "f*****g f*gs" twice at us.

We reported it to the police and they took it seriously but I'm not sure it will go anywhere.

Just posting here on the off chance that anyone else has experienced something similar in the area.

[J27]

So sorry to hear this - what a horrible experience for you both. Glad you've reported it. Have you reported it directly to Veolia as well? They should investigate - the man is clearly one of their employees...

[Sally Eva]

You should report it to Veolia and, if they don't respond, to your councillor

Give Veolia the date, time and street. They should be able to identify the guy.

[hensamenities]

How ghastly. I hope you get over it quickly and, as WH Auden said,? wear your tribulation like a rose? xxx

[malumbu]

Hate crime, taken very seriously by the authorities/police. Zero tolerance on hate crime.

[Nigello]

Report it to Veolia (sp) and say you have informed the police and your MP (which you can do here, remembering to include your full name, address and phone number). https://www.writetothem.com/ Onwards!

[maniana]

Completely horrendous. I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[binkylilyput]

The company should have on record who was collecting those bins on those streets at that time hopefully.

I hope the police are also in contact with them.

Sorry to hear this happened to you.

[Rockets]

This is disgusting. I would let the council know and give them the police incident number so they can investigate it as it sounds like this person was fulfilling a council recycling collection and they must speak to Veolia about it.

[EDulwich_4]

So sorry to hear this. As the others suggest, definitely worthwhile trying to report it.

[Sarah No. 1]

That is absolutely disgusting behavior. I hope you are both feeling ok now.

Did you notice if any of his colleagues overheard him?

Hope he is tracked down soon.

[ruffers]

As they all say, get on to Veolia.

Can't help but think this is not very bright, behaving like this in uniform and clearly identifiable...!

[i*Rate]

noahsdw,

I was shocked when I read your post yesterday, the dustman always seem a decent lot of blokes and we live in a liberal, harmonious part of London - so I though.

I do hope that the Police sort it out with Southwark Council. I worked for local government for many years and this kind of behaviour it totally unacceptable; that person must be found and reprimanded.

Good luck and kind regards.

[Blah Blah]

Veola are contracted by Southwark Council so definitely complain to councillors and to the council itself. The council demands certain standards from its contractors.

[TurnerJ]

So sorry to hear this happened to you. It can really mess with your mind, especially when it?s where you live, more so when you?re with your partner, more so if it?s a person that?s supposed to be a council worker. I know the feeling and it ends up feeling ?embarrassing? because of one comment from an idiot. Unfortunately companies don?t take action when things like this happen. But, you aren?t alone in ED. Ive lived here for 8 years and I?m 31 now. It?s a liberal area but I still wouldn?t hold my boyfriends hand on Lordship Lane. It?s a ?liberal? area. But it takes one comment to make it a terrible experience. We?re thinking of moving East soon.

[Nigello]

I don't agree that companies don't take action. I would bet that there will be an investigation and the culprit will be reprimanded, especially it is now in the public arena. I don't think it is a sackable offence but he should be chastised, asked to apologise and perhaps be told that any further problems could result in his sacking. I agree that despite our liberalness, gay people of all ages don't like the idea of being demonstrative in public places, which is a shame. Onwards!

[KidKruger]

If not a sackable offence then it?s not treated seriously enough.

How can you go about (while doing your job) and insult someone?s sexuality - bullying someone for being themselves - and not get sacked ?!

Guy deserves a good kicking IMO.

[RachelB0403]

So sorry to hear this has happened to you.

100%. A sackable offence. Very sure I couldn?t walk into my office, shout such a horrendous thing and expect to have a job afterwards.

I hope you are both ok

[OPTIC1]

Try reading a post on here "Wardy The Kid From The Rough End Of The Street" Chapter 12, to find out what "Homophobic attack" meant in the 50's. Its an eye opener.

[KidKruger]

Your stories are great OPTIC, and your comment here highlights that even now, 70yrs after the 50?s, we?ve not come the whole way yet and there are morons determined to stay in the swamp.

[noahsdw]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your genuine comments, they've definitely helped to comfort us in knowing that our neighbours care.

We have certainly contacted the police, Veolia and Southwark Council. I will happily update on the situation as and when news comes in.

I think it's important to reiterate the bin man was working solo ahead of the pick up lorry so I don't want to tar them all with the same brush.

@Optic1 - I'm not sure if the story from the 50's is meant to make me feel grateful I'm not in that era or perhaps a polite way of saying to say chin up, it could have been worse. Of course our encounter wasn't physical or too harmful but it's important to share these experiences to highlight the existing inequality in our community.

Thanks again all! Have a lovely weekend :)

[Nigello]

I disagree that calling someone a name is worthy of taking someone's job away from them. I think that everyone deserves a chance to express regret and to make amends, and be punished accordingly, like being put on warning, or losing a portion of one's wages, writing to express regret, making a donation to a charity, etc. (I can "tick a fair few boxes" and would not like it at all if a person who called me a derogatory name in the street had his or her job taken away for a one-off offence.) I would want him or her to apologise in writing to me and for the employer to assure me that punishment was given. The witch hunt aspect of the current discourse (going from 0 - 80) is evident when people demand the ultimate penalty available for a first offence.

[JohnL]

KidKruger Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If not a sackable offence then it?s not treated

> seriously enough.

> How can you go about (while doing your job) and

> insult someone?s sexuality - bullying someone for

> being themselves - and not get sacked ?!

> Guy deserves a good kicking IMO.

They should have been told clearly when starting that it's gross misconduct (we had to visit a lawyers premises when we had our courses on this - it emphasised the seriousness)

[JohnL]

Nigello Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I disagree that calling someone a name is worthy

> of taking someone's job away from them. I think

> that everyone deserves a chance to express regret

> and to make amends, and be punished accordingly,

> like being put on warning, or losing a portion of

> one's wages, writing to express regret, making a

> donation to a charity, etc. (I can "tick a fair

> few boxes" and would not like it at all if a

> person who called me a derogatory name in the

> street had his or her job taken away for a one-off

> offence.) I would want him or her to apologise in

> writing to me and for the employer to assure me

> that punishment was given. The witch hunt aspect

> of the current discourse (going from 0 - 80) is

> evident when people demand the ultimate penalty

> available for a first offence.

I'd guess he would't have said it if his colleagues had ostracized him or others for similar behavior (this stuff doesn't come out of the blue). There's a corporate responsibility here to train and tell employees what their responsibility is.

[KidKruger]

Nigello Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I disagree that calling someone a name is worthy

> of taking someone's job away from them. I think

> that everyone deserves a chance to express regret

> and to make amends, and be punished accordingly,

> like being put on warning, or losing a portion of

> one's wages, writing to express regret, making a

> donation to a charity, etc. (I can "tick a fair

> few boxes" and would not like it at all if a

> person who called me a derogatory name in the

> street had his or her job taken away for a one-off

> offence.) I would want him or her to apologise in

> writing to me and for the employer to assure me

> that punishment was given. The witch hunt aspect

> of the current discourse (going from 0 - 80) is

> evident when people demand the ultimate penalty

> available for a first offence.

A lot of speculation there Nigello.

There?s ?calling names? and insulting someone because of their relationship choices - personally I see them as grossly different. Being treated like that makes you feel threatened and unsafe.

And you seriously reckon the culprit was doing that for the ?first time? ? Or does first time only mean ?first time caught?. Do me a favour.

Harassment such as this needs dealing with hard, people have choices and if they purposefully want to threaten other people minding their own business they can dwell on it after being punished.

No-one walking about our streets should feel threatened.