A female banker sued her firm because her manager asked her to babysit his children, was dismissive towards her and called her his ‘little sister’. She alleged that another manager told her not to wear a figure hugging dress as he ‘needed to focus’. She brought a claim for £800,000 claiming that she was a victim of discrimination. However her claims were dismissed by the Employment Tribunal. The Judge found that the employee was an unreliable witness and that the comment relating to a figure hugging dress did not happen. The requests for her to babysit her manager’s children were intended as a joke and did not amount to discrimination. The Judge found that she was being ‘oversensitive’ to what was described as office banter or loose language. She was found to have been a willing participant in the banter who say it as a bit of light hearted fun.
The Tribunal heard that the employee felt sexually harassed when colleagues referred to her as a ‘ladette’ and ‘one of the boys’. The Tribunal found that this did amount to sexual harassment but she will not recover any compensation as her claim was brought too late. The Judge did state however that this was an example of ‘loose language’ which was poorly chosen and that the individuals concerned should have chosen their words more carefully.
This case demonstrates the fine balancing line that can sometimes arise between office banter and unlawful discrimination. One employee’s ‘harmless joke’ can lead to potential claims working hundreds of thousands of pounds. Employers must take care to ensure that they have robust procedures in place for helping employees who feel discriminated against and also that they run regular equal opportunities training to ensure that staff know what is and is not appropriate in the workplace.
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