A support worker who made sexual comments to a colleague and told her she had the “ideal body” has been issued with a warning.
Allen Coakley told his colleague she had “beautiful and pink lips” and that he was attracted to her because of her “tattoos and beautiful eyes”.
The senior support worker – who made the comments in front of a service user – also told his colleague: “you’re the right woman at the wrong time”.
After asking her out for a drink, he asked her “how many times are you going to friend zone me?”
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) heard that Mr Coakley made the comments, and hugged the woman, on July 7, 2021, causing her distress.
In another incident on September 16, 2021, Mr Coakley was found to have caused a service user distress by shouting at them.
The SSSC said he had failed to “de-escalate challenging behaviour”.
He shouted at the service user: “You do not speak to staff like that, you do as you are told”.
Following a hearing, which Mr C did not attend, the SSSC ruled that his fitness to practice was impaired due to his behaviour as he was not treating people he was working alongside, or supporting, with dignity and respect.
Breach of ‘trust and confidence’
Their findings said: “Social service workers have the right to expect that they will be treated with dignity and respect and their health and safety protected by their social service colleagues.
“Behaving inappropriately and making sexualised comments towards a colleague resulting in them feeling uncomfortable, amounts to a failure to treat them with dignity and respect.”
It continued: “Shouting at a service user is abusive behaviour which escalated a challenging situation and caused distress to the service user. Your behaviour breached the trust and confidence placed in you by service users and your employer.
“You have acted in a manner which is incompatible with expected standards of the
profession. Any repeat of this behaviour or similar behaviour would put other service users at a similar risk of harm.”
No remorse
The watchdog felt Mr Coakley, from Inverurie, had shown no regret or remorse.
It stated: “Given we have no assurances that you have insight into the seriousness of your behaviour, the risk of repetition is high.”
The issued him with a one-year warning.
To have it removed from his record after that, Mr Coakley must provide SSSC with evidence his employer, or any future workplace, knows about the sanction.
He must undergo training in professional boundaries in the workplace, on how to profile positive behaviour in front of service users.
He must also submit a reflective account on his understanding of the actual and potential impact of his behaviour towards his colleagues, and service users.
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