Ms N Chung, a former employee at cask investment firm Whisky 1901, was awarded more than £50,000 in compensation for a sequence of events between August and November 2022, during which she complained about colleagues making “derogatory” remarks about women.
The London Central Tribunal heard that Chung’s colleague, Mr Sidhu, not only asked if she intended to become pregnant, he also locked her out of the company’s office.
Employment judge Klimov ruled that these incidents, along with other behaviours, amounted to harassment related to sex.
In November 2022, Chung raised allegations of misconduct and was later suspended from work for five months. The tribunal heard that Whisky 1901’s CEO disciplined Chung without attending the disciplinary hearing, and imposed a 12-month written warning instead of the recommended six months, after which Chung was dismissed by resignation.
The tribunal decided that these claims, along with her dismissal, constituted victimisation, and that the company had “unreasonably failed to comply with the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures”, which increased Chung’s award by 20 per cent.
The tribunal also concluded that Chung was the victim of direct sex discrimination when the company failed to uphold her grievance, instead preferring Sidhu’s account.
Chung’s other claims for breach of contracts were also successful, resulting in a total compensation of £51,776.67. The compensation breakdown included £21,226.54 for financial losses, £14,000 for injury to feelings, £7,045.30 as an uplift as a result of non-compliance with the Acas code, £1,749.29 in interest for compensation for financial losses, £2,301.36 in interest for compensation for injury to feelings and £5,454 to account for the gross up of the award.
A Whisky 1901 spokesperson announced plans to appeal the tribunal’s decision, adding: “We can confirm that Mr Sidhu is no longer employed by Whisky 1901 as of June 2023. The appropriate grievance and disciplinary processes and procedures were followed in regard to this matter. This included seeking independent advice from a well-known HR consultancy firm.
“We actively encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and take matters of this nature very seriously.”
Relevance to the Worker Protection Act
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 is set to take effect on 26 October, requiring companies to take ‘reasonable’ precautions to avoid the sexual harassment of their employees.
According to the legislation, if a tribunal decides that an employer failed to take precautions to protect workers, it can require them to pay a 25 per cent increase in any award of compensation for sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is defined by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) as “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature” that has the purpose or effect of “violating a worker’s dignity” or “creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that worker”.
“Employers should educate their staff about language and behaviour that could be deemed sexual harassment, such as outdated terms like ‘birds’ or calling grown women ‘girls’, and reinforce their no-tolerance policy on sexual harassment,.
If you are unsure if you are complying with the 2023 act or need help with its implementation please contact me at https://www.ukemploymentlawadvice.co.uk/contact.
Michael Newman
Newman HR
October 9th 2024
PS look out for more information following the publication of Labour’s employment rights bill on October 10th