A London Underground driver has been suspended over claims he "bullied and harassed" a fellow driver, including by placing a picture of the Queen in their office.
The suspended driver was accused of creating a "hostile" work environment by a colleague when he put the picture up in their Essex depot, The Evening Standard reported.
Transport for London confirmed a member of staff on the Central Line had been suspended, but declined to give details of the "bullying and harassment" it was investigating.
The row between the drivers reportedly centres on a portrait of the Queen being displayed in a work office
Peter McNaught, London Undergrounds’s operations director, said: “Following a dispute between two members of staff on the Central Line, a full investigation is being carried out by senior managers and a member of staff has been suspended pending the outcome.
"We take all claims of bullying and harassment extremely seriously and do not tolerate such behaviour in the workplace.”
Finn Brennan, from the union Aslef to which the suspended driver belongs, told The Evening Standard: "It is extraordinary that a public corporation under the control of Boris Johnson is instructing staff to remove photographs of the Queen. We have written to the company to ask them for an immediate investigation and for this bizarre decision to be reversed.”
When contacted by The Huffington Post UK, Brennan declined to comment on claims there were tensions between the two drivers over political issues and the fact they were from different unions - the complainant being represented by the RMT.
A London Underground staff member has been suspended pending an investigation
In a statement, Mick Cash, RMT Acting General Secretary told HuffPost UK: "RMT is aware that an investigation is being undertaken by London Underground through the internal process that has been agreed with all the tube unions and we would not make any further comment while that process is on-going."
The complainant told The Standard the dispute was far wider than the Queen portrait and said they had been off sick with stress because of it.
They said: "I’ve had a lot of time off work with stress with threats made against my family and my home… it’s been rumbling on for a couple of years but the London Underground have said I can’t say anything."