UK tribunal judge ruled sighs at colleagues can be disability discrimination after software engineer Robert Watson, diagnosed with ADHD in 2022, complained about his manager’s frustrated exhales. Roke Manor Research faces compensation as workplace etiquette gets a bizarre new rule.

Nonverbal frustration—like sighing—now counts as discrimination after a tech manager’s audible exhales cost his firm a tribunal loss. Legal experts warn companies could field more ‘deep breath’ claims, as court testimony put workplace stress and HR policies under a microscope. "Had adjustments been made earlier, discrimination might have been avoided," the judge noted, setting a surreal new HR precedent.

The sighs that sparked this case were so pronounced the tribunal officially deemed them discriminatory—setting a UK legal first.