A GAY bar manager who was tormented about his sexuality by senior staff has won hundreds of pounds in compensation.

Kane Weresch, of Tower Close, Abingdon, was called a “batty boy” and an Aids victim by the head chef and his line manager at the Crown and Thistle Hotel, Abingdon.

At an employment tribunal in Reading on Monday, the panel heard the abuse began in March 2007, when the 22-year-old openly gay bar manager told line manager Mario Lolli he needed to leave work early for some blood tests.

He was then asked if he had Aids by the “aggressive and obnoxious” Italian national.

Mr Weresch — who supervised the sports-style Stocks Bar at the hotel — also told the tribunal that last July he was communicating with the kitchen staff on a walkie-talkie and kept pressing a buzzer to get their attention.

Head chef Chris Barr then picked up the radio and said “will you stop pressing that f*****g button, you batty boy”.

Mr Weresch said: “I wasn’t going to take the abuse any more — the general abuse and shouting and swearing and bullying.

“I had resigned on two other occasions because of Mario.

“He asked me back and said it wouldn’t be the same, but it was always the same. I was told that it was the way he was because he was Italian.”

Jane Gibson, who was the hotel’s deputy manager, said she broke the news of Mr Weresch’s resignation to Mr Lolli.

She said: “I told Kane that Mario would need to know as he was going on holiday and may have to cut it short (because of the resignation).

“Mario then came into reception and I told him Kane had something to tell him. Mario said ‘don't tell me he’s got swine flu’.

“I said ‘no, worse than that’, and so Mario said he had got Aids.”

Mrs Gibson also said the two men had a “strange” relationship and were friends one moment, but not the next.

A grievance investigation into Mr Lolli and Mr Barr was launched, resulting in Mr Barr getting a final written warning for his discriminatory comments.

Mr Lolli was suspended pending the investigation, but left the company before a disciplinary hearing could take place.

Thomas Oxton, representing Crown and Thistle, claimed Mr Weresch would also swear at Mr Lolli and he had already had interviews with another public house, The Brewery Tap, before resigning, telling colleagues he was leaving because the money was better.

Judge Jessica Hall dismissed Mr Weresch’s claims of constructive unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

But the judge ordered he should be paid £600 for harassment.

She said: “You were clearly annoyed by the ‘batty boy’ remark and made a grievance against it, but it’s just too convenient that you had an alternative job.

“We believe the reason you left was to go to a different job and to get a better career.”

After the hearing, Mr Weresch, who now manages summer houses, said: “I just hope that this will give anyone else in the same position the courage to come forward.”