Eleanor Stevenson, in the case of Ms Eleanor Stevenson v Eden Beck Ltd, at Watford Tribunal, was a personal assistant and office manager at environmental services firm Edenbeck. She was left with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a violent assault on the way home from a work Christmas party.
The tribunal ruled that she was discriminated against on the grounds of sex and disability and was subjected to a barrage of “sexist and violent behaviour” in a male-dominated office environment. She was also found to have been constructively unfairly dismissed following a period of extended sick leave caused by her condition.
She was sent “rude, offensive and sexually explicit messages”, had her car keys taken and hidden from her, was referred to as “Elle at fat club” and was made to clean up dog faeces after finance director Stuart Mayall’s son David brought his puppy into the office.
On other occasions, a Post-it Note with a highly offensive slur was left on her monitor, and David Mayall threw a hard dog ball at Stevenson’s head so hard it resulted in her crying.
Judge Bedeau said it was “clear that the male members of staff were treated more favourably when compared with the female members of staff” and that “what happened to the claimant was much more than banter. This was the respondent allowing its male employees to take advantage of the few female employees, in particular the claimant.”
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