Workplace Sexual Harassment – You Don’t Have to Put Up With It!

Those who suffer sexual harassment at work have absolutely no reason to put up with it and should contact an employment lawyer without delay. In a case on point, a young woman who was showered with offensive WhatsApp messages by her boss was awarded substantial compensation.

Over a period…

Jun 30, 2022

Dimitri karastelev ynjawgrwslm unsplash 1024x683

Over a period of more than two years, the administrative assistant’s boss sent her a persistent stream of extremely distasteful, crude and, in many cases, shockingly racist messages. About 50 of them were memes of a sexual nature. Some of them were simply bad, misogynistic jokes whilst others included pornographic images.

Upholding her sexual harassment and victimisation claims, an Employment Tribunal found it extraordinary that a director and owner of a company would send such unwanted messages to an employee. She did not find them remotely funny and felt embarrassed and humiliated by their content. Almost any female employee would have been likely to feel the same way in the circumstances.

Her boss had also made a comment about her removing her clothes and a sexually suggestive remark when she bent down to pick up a pen. When she complained, he sent her a text message containing a veiled threat to report her allegedly undeclared cash income to the tax authorities. Together with interest, her total compensation award for injury to her feelings came to £19,000.

Are You Sure Your Employee’s Misbehaviour is Not Disability-Related?

You may be justified in dismissing a misbehaving employee but, before doing so, it is always essential to ask yourself whether their conduct may arise from a disability. An Employment Tribunal (ET) powerfully made that point in upholding a diabetic hotel worker’s disability discrimination claim. The employee, who suffered from insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes, admitted that his behaviour in the six months he worked at the hotel was sometimes poor. He was dismissed following an incident in…

COVID-19 Whistleblower Succeeds in Automatic Unfair Dismissal Claim

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees have complained that social distancing and other precautions were not enforced with sufficient rigour in their workplaces. As an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling in a whistleblowing case made plain, employers are obliged to treat such concerns with the utmost seriousness. A sales assistant was extremely worried that rules in place to counter the pandemic were not being consistently followed in the shop where she worked. Amongst other things, she told…

Pregnancy ‘Played a Part’ in Redundancy Decision – Discrimination Ruling

Maternity leave is every expectant mother’s entitlement and, if you feel that you have suffered pregnancy discrimination, you should contact a solicitor without delay. The point was powerfully made by the case of a woman whose pregnancy played a part in her employer’s decision to make her redundant. Having twice become pregnant, the woman took successive periods of maternity leave which together lasted over two years. Not long after returning to work, she became pregnant for a third time and…