In the case of Ms J A v W M Mr WM ‘singled out’ Ms JA and subjected her to a campaign of harassment – including repeatedly winking at her when she walked past – which left her both ‘worried and scared’.
The tribunal said his actions of repeatedly offering her a lift home and twice overpaying her £20 ‘for doing a good job’ also amounted to harassment.
Ms JA complained to colleagues about his behaviour, which included him telling her she had the ‘prettiest eyes he had ever seen’, but was overheard via CCTV by Mr WM.
In retaliation, the male restaurant director stopped giving shifts to Ms JA and she was effectively dismissed.
Now an employment tribunal has condemned his behaviour and said his repeated winking amounted to harassment and was ‘clearly unwanted’ conduct.
The hearing was told that on the restaurant worker’s first shift, Mr WM took her into his office and proceeded to adjust her tie and collar.
‘[She] felt that there was nothing wrong with her uniform,’ the tribunal heard. ‘[He] also insisted on putting the radio used by staff on the claimant; she said twice that she could do this herself, but [he] said that he had to do it.
‘This required [her] to unbutton her top. [He] put the radio in [her] back pocket which led to him touching her backside. He apologised for this. [He] never insisted on putting the radio on [her] again and he never did the same for other staff.’
It awarded Ms JA – who represented herself at the hearing – a total of £41,535 in compensation.
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