An airport services worker, sacked after he jokingly flicked a clipboard between a colleague's legs from behind, has won his unfair sacking claim.

An airport services worker, sacked after he jokingly flicked a clipboard between a colleague's legs from behind, has won his unfair sacking claim.

Ronald Love was dismissed for gross misconduct after 38 years when Servisair UK concluded he had sexually harassed his victim.

Mr Love, who was openly homosexual, denied he had any sexual interest in the victim, which a Glasgow employment tribunal accepted.

The tribunal further accepted the incident, a childish prank, was intended as a joke and had no sexual content.

The tribunal heard Mr Love, a clerical supervisor, had approached his victim who was standing in a group round a desk, legs apart with his back to Mr Love who decided to get a laugh at his victim's expense and flicked the clipboard between his legs, walking on without pausing.

He heard laughter. Two colleagues claimed the clipboard touched the victim's private parts. This had not been Mr Love's intention.

The tribunal heard the victim was not homosexual and had been teased by colleagues that Mr Love was attracted to him. Mr Love denied he was attracted to him or that he had pretended he was.

The tribunal concluded the real reason for Mr Love's dismissal was not the clipboard incident alone, but included Mr Love's perceived sexual interest and sexual pursuit of the victim.

The tribunal accepted Mr Love had not pursued him.

The tribunal concluded: "If the dismissal was for the single act of touching the victim with the clipboard between his legs, in the context of men working in a warehouse in which banter was the permitted norm, no reasonable employer would have dismissed an employee of some 38 years' standing for that single offence,"

Mr Love, from Renfrew, was deemed 20% to blame.

The company was criticised for failing to investigate properly and for procedural failings.

Compensation will be determined later.