Everything isn’t peachy!

A senior female manager has successfully claimed sex-based harassment and victimisation after being repeatedly sent peach emoji texts by her boss.  Julie Sabba, an associate in MLP’s Employment team, considers the case in more detail.

Facts

The claimant had worked for a transport company since 2019 and claimed that, even after rejecting her boss’s sexual advances, he continued to bombard her with texts, often containing peach emojis – an icon usually used to refer to someone’s bottom.

The unwanted behaviour also saw the claimant receiving calls from her boss when he was drunk, being invited for one to one dinners and pestered by texts.  Indeed, one such text stated, “In case it’s not obvious I do really like you but I’m not the best at saying so. I’m cool if you don’t feel the same way & I wouldn’t want it to change anything, but just wanted to let you know.”  He was also said to have behaved in a jealous way when the claimant spent time with other male colleagues and had invited her to consider moving abroad with him to set up a new business.

A grievance was raised by the claimant regarding this treatment, who then alleged that she was further discriminated against by the managers that handled that process.

The claimant ultimately raised discrimination and harassment claims in the Employment Tribunal.

Law

Direct discrimination, where an individual is treated less favourably than others on the grounds of a protected characteristic, is contrary to the Equality Act 2010.  This includes treatment on the grounds of sex.

Moreover, harassment – unwanted conduct, creating a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for someone due to a protected characteristic – is similarly unlawful.  Violating an employee’s dignity, including sexual harassment, is covered by the legislation.

Decision

The claimant was successful in her claims and was awarded compensation.

The Tribunal pointed to the fact that since her resignation, the claimant suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, which the Tribunal accepted as significant and debilitating.

In its decision, the Tribunal also emphasised that the employer’s poor handling of the grievance and appeal process compounded the discriminatory and harassment suffered by the claimant, stating that the claimant had been treated like a ‘scheming femme fatale’.

The claimant was awarded significant compensation; £420,000, including £30,000 for injury to feelings.

Comments

There are clear lessons to be learned from the case.  The first, and most obvious one, is to ensure that any grievance process does not further exacerbate or compound discriminatory behaviour.  A fair and transparent approach must be adopted by the employer when attending to employee grievances, to prevent any accusation that the process, designed to resolve workplace disputes, is itself discriminatory.

Furthermore, informal types of communication, like texts and emojis, can be misinterpreted or misused – it was David Cameron who famously signed off a text to a bereaved friend with lol – he meant lots of love but it’s generally agreed to mean laugh out loud.  That is where robust and clear policies are essential, making it clear that discrimination and harassment are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the workplace.  This approach will avoid a *hands over eyes monkey emoji* feeling or, more importantly, a legal claim against the business.

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.