In the case of Ms HE Biggs v A Bilborough & Company Ltd and others Helena Biggs is a qualified solicitor specialising in shipping. She joined A Bilborough & Company Ltd as a claims handler in October 2004. The tribunal heard that when Biggs told the claims director of her firm that she was pregnant, he had gone directly to another female employee and told her to ‘keep her legs shut’. The same director had then commented that a friendship between Biggs and a female client might be because the client was a lesbian. He had claimed in his evidence he was pointing this out to ‘protect’ Biggs.
The shipping specialist had worked for City of London insurance business A Billborough & Company Ltd for almost 14 years but had been paid less than her male colleague for five years after they were both promoted to associate director.
When Biggs and a male colleague were allocated work, another claims director said he could not give her a particular fleet because she was a woman. Biggs was told that the operators of the fleet held sexist views and could not be forced to work with her.
The tribunal heard that during a discussion about key performance indicators, Biggs heard one director describe her as ‘pushy’, which she considered to be a negative term to describe assertive women. Soon after, the same director suggested she should deal with a particular client by sitting down and talking about the project ‘using your charm’.
The judge had ruled that references to her being ‘overly dominant’ and ‘incredibly ambitious’ by bosses were negative statements about her drive and hard work, which were not judgements that would be made of a man.
Ms Biggs was awarded £151,811.31 in compensation for her successful claims, including unfair dismissal which included compensation of £59,317.33 and £53,840 for injury to feelings plus interest.
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