Lesbian Work Couple "taunted by bosses"
14 Jul 2009
Bosses at a Bristol water purifier firm taunted a lesbian couple at work by labelling their behaviour as "disgusting", an Employment Tribunal heard.
Saleswomen Beth Moules and Sharleen Amos, both 25, complained about sexual harassment from their bosses at Aquatec Rainsoft, but were told to stop because "lesbians never had and never would suffer in the way that Jews had".
Miss Amos, who was fired, was awarded £5,000 for unfair dismissal after arranging an out-of-court settlement with the firm.
But Miss Moules, who resigned and claimed for constructive dismissal, was awarded £7,142.30 for unfair dismissal by a panel at the tribunal.
In addition, Aquatec Rainsoft was instructed to pay each woman £5,000 as compensation for sex discrimination and hurt feelings.
The ruling comes after Jaine Telling, a 41-year-old from Moredon, won £50,000 after suing a former employer for sex discrimination, harassment and unfair dismissal, because she was "made to feel inferior" and received constant "digs and stick" from male colleagues while she worked as a lorry driver, the Swindon Advertiser reported.
William O'Neill Head of the Litigation Department at Rowlands said: "In today's society, where so much emphasis is placed on promoting equality and diversity, any outward expressions of homophobia in the workplace is totally unacceptable and in some cases can amount to sexual discrimination or harassment."
"A person subjects a woman to harassment if, for a reason related to a person's sex, he engages in unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect:
- of violating her dignity, or
- of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her."
Whether the conduct is unwanted or not is a subjective test, therefore it only matters how the conduct is interpreted by the victim and it is irrelevant if another person placed in the same situation would not have been offended by it.
Neither is it necessary to show that the employer intended to harass the victim, so long as the victim themselves feels harassed.
This means that Employers are well advised to take extra caution as to what they say in the workplace, even if comments are intended to be made in a light hearted manner, as if faced with an over sensitive employee, they could find themselves presented with harassment claims.
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