News Feed
The three-person employment tribunal, which was chaired by employment judge Robert Little, unanimously found that staff at Chesterfield-based marine supply firm Cathelco had been guilty of sexually harassing Angelina Ashby.
Personnel had made fun of her weight and figure, circulated an offensive cartoon about her and sent an email around the office entitled ‘fat, fat face’, the tribunal acknowledged. The fact that male staff watched pornography in the office also highlighted an “underlying laddish culture,” judge Little said.
But he dismissed claims that Ashby’s boss, sales director Peter Smith, would persuade female colleagues to grab his genital and on one occasion put an administrator over his knee and spanked her because his “inappropriate behaviour” had not been included in her initial sexual harassment claim.
Also dismissed was her claim for equal pay after the tribunal heard that she turned down a salary rise and £1,000 bonus. Ashby, who was paid £13,500 a year, compared her work to three better paid male sales executives, but Little said they were “proactive” sales staff while she was not.
But on delivering the verdict, Little acknowledged that, when Ashby had complained about her treatment, the company’s managing director Justin Salisbury had said she had a personality that annoyed people and claimed that “in 20 years of business, Cathelco had only ever had a problem with women”. At a later meeting, he said that he “had been very understanding and could have easily told her to ---- off.”
The firm, which continues to deny the allegations, will be required to attend a hearing in October to learn what damages it is expected to pay Ashby.
