ONE of Scotland's largest construction companies has been accused of failing to adequately protect the only female member of its lift engineering section from sexual harassment by a senior employee while she was pregnant.

When Brooke Martin was taken on as an apprentice by City Building - jointly owned by Glasgow City Council (GCC) and Wheatley Housing Group (WHG) - the company was quick to promote her appointment to an all-male team as a success for gender equality.

However, seven years later, Ms Martin remains the only woman in her immediate team and says she has been forced to raise a complaint against a senior employee, accusing him of a sustained campaign of inappropriate behaviour over several years, including during her pregnancy.

City Building confirmed to The Herald that the complaint had been upheld and the man had been given a warning and a including a two week unpaid suspension.

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But colleagues within the company fear that problems are more deeply rooted in the workplace culture and the action amounted to little more than "an extra fortnight's holidays".

Another staff member, who asked not to be named, said: "This so-called warning on its own means absolutely nothing - it has been handed out like confetti in City Building, hardly worth the paper it is written on.”

Four witnesses are known to have come forward to speak on Ms Martin's behalf.

One of these four said another employee had asked him if he had any naked photographs of Ms Martin, a lift engineer in a specialist team, and, if so, would he share them.

It was further claimed that the man was seen parked outside of Ms Martin's house on several occasions and accused her - wrongly - of being at home when she should have been at work.

City Building said it had not investigated these further and they were not upheld because there was a duty to check on company vehicles and that fact justified the man being in the vicinity of an employee's home address.

An initial investigation into the situation by City Building's HR department came to nothing, leaving Ms Martin, who is currently on maternity leave, feeling let down by the firm.

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The company said this was due to a lack of witness testimony in support of its employee. However, several other staff members are said to have come forward.

On one occasion the man was said to have made an obscene gesture behind Ms Martin's back to other male staff members.

He was further said to have asked male colleagues if they had had sex with her and requested she try on a new work uniform while he was still in the room with her. 

Ms Martin escalated the situation to senior management.

She also contacted her local MP, Anne McLaughlin, who has been contacted for comment, and her union, which has also been approached for comment.

In documents from City Building, seen by The Herald, the company confirms that it has overturned an early decision to dismiss Ms Martin's claims following a review of evidence provided and has now upheld the allegations.

The company found that the man made sexual gestures behind Ms Martin's back to two male witnesses.

It is further accepted that the man had asked a colleague for naked pictures of her and also that he had asked another colleague if he had had sex with Ms Martin.

When this colleague replied "no", the man said that he was "disappointed".

One letter, from a senior manager, reads: "I realise that it was difficult for you to raise allegations of this nature, but it was absolutely the correct thing to do and whilst I cannot undo how you may have felt following the initial decision not to uphold your complaint, I am genuinely sorry for any additional stress this may have caused you.

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"I can advise you that on your return to work you will not be required to work with [the man] in any capacity and that the disciplinary procedure will now be invoked."

A City Building spokesperson said: “We take any allegations of workplace bullying very seriously and incidents where staff fall below the standard we expect we will take the necessary action.

 “In this case the complaint was upheld, and appropriate and punitive action was taken.”

The man was given a final written warning, suspended for four weeks - two without pay - and is required to undertake additional training.

However, witnesses in the case said they had no confidence that problems in the company had been resolved.

One said: "The equalities training is a joke and will make no difference to the environment in City Building.

"It is not only that Brooke was sexually harassed at work but that it was allowed to continue for years without management stepping in to stop it or help her - it is a wider issue. 

"The company wants to encourage more women apprentices and staff to join but no wonder the numbers are what they are when this is the workplace culture."