Gatwick Cleaner Punched In Face On The Job

An OCS employee at Gatwick Airport has asked if he can be excused from one of his jobs, after getting punched in the face by a member of the public.

Jean-Noel Talate was cleaning the ladies toilets at the London airport when he inadvertently walked in on a woman who was using one of the cubicles. He then suffered verbal abuse and a punch in the face from the woman’s partner.

According to a report in the Surrey Mirror, Jean-Noel was cleaning the washrooms in the airport’s South Terminal when he knocked on an unlocked cubicle and, believing it to be empty, opened the door, only to find a woman in there.

He said: “I opened one door and there was a lady inside. I told her I was a cleaner and asked her to please remember to lock the cubicle. It was embarrassing for both of us. She started calling me a pervert and saying very bad words to me.

“I told her if she wanted to complain I would take her to the information point, but her partner was outside and he was not happy. He punched me in the face and cut the inside of my mouth.”

Jean-Noel added that he wanted OCS to reverse the newly introduced requirement for male cleaners to go into the ladies toilets, saying: “It is a new rule that started just for our night shift cleaning team about a month ago. It hasn’t changed for the cleaners working during the day.”

A statement from Gatwick Airport said that posters indicating that cleaners of the opposite sex may be at work in the washrooms are on display, and that cleaners are instructed to place a cone outside the front door to the washrooms while they are cleaning. They added that if any visitors feel uncomfortable, the cleaners are advised to leave and return at a later point.