Costs Awarded against Employee Claiming Work Email was Sexual Harassment

An IT worker who sued her boss for sexual harassment, after believing his use of “xx”, “yy”, and “????” in an email was a coded way of asking for sexual relations, has been ordered to pay costs, after failing in her claim.  Julie Sabba, Associate in Employment, provides more detail on the case of Gasparova v essDocs.

Karina Gasparova raised a claim against her former employer for sexual harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal.

In evidence, she claimed that the following email was loaded with sexual innuendo:

“Can you please complete the following:

The solution us currently used by xx Agris companies and yy Barge lines in corn cargoes in south-north flows in the ???? waterways.

Also, can you remind me of what the balance of the rollout will be and the approx. timing.

Thanks”

Ms Gasparova, who represented herself, argued the ‘xx’ referred to kisses, ‘yy’ to sexual contact and ‘????’ as a coded way of asking “when she would be ready” to engage in sexual acts.

She also stated that when Alexander Goulandris renamed a work file with his initials ‘ajg’ it was an abbreviation of “A Jumbo Genital” and that he spoke in an alluring voice when wishing her a ‘nice evening’.

In rejecting her claims, the tribunal panel described them as a “skewed perception of everyday events (which) demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence”.

Ms Gasparova’s claims of sexual harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal were rejected and she was ordered to pay £5,000 costs to essDOCS.

If you would like advice from the Employment team at MLP Law in respect of any of the issues raised here or more generally, please do not hesitate to get in touch on 0161 926 9969 or employment@mlplaw.co.uk, or follow us on Twitter @HRHeroUK.