In Mr K Ahmed v National Westminster Bank Plc a former analyst who was sacked for selling sex work online has successfully sued NatWest for unfair dismissal.
Karim Ahmed was fired after bosses discovered he was running a self-help sex and relationship website called Agile Love, which linked to a site called Skin Map that featured explicit pictures of himself.
The Skin Map site, which Ahmed also harnessed to promote “sensual massages” for £25, was linked to his LinkedIn profile that also showed he worked for the bank.
The website described the business as having an “airy Brighton office with free car parking”. Ahmed accepted in evidence that he had never asked permission to use his employer’s address for his business.
NatWest feared that his extra-curricular activities could harm the bank’s reputation.
An employment tribunal in Croydon agreed that the bank’s reputation could have been harmed by the link to Mr Ahmed’s sex work and dismissed his claims of disability discrimination.
Though the tribunal ruled in Ahmed’s favour, he will receive no compensation, for the judge concluded that he would have been fairly sacked if the rules had been properly followed.
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