A Scottish golf club is facing legal action over claims a laundry worker suffered sexual harassment “several times a day for months” at the hands of another employee.
The male staff member is taking MacHrihanish Dunes to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal and sexual harassment, amid claims he was subjected to “groping and spanking” by a female worker.
The employee, named only as Mr X, also alleged that almost every time he spoke to his colleague, she discussed “sexual acts”.
He reported the incidents to his bosses, but a preliminary judgment in the case states that it appeared the complaint “was not properly investigated”.
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He refused to continue working with the woman, named in the judgment as MsY, and asked to only work shifts when she was off. However, he was removed from the firm’s payroll several months later.
The tribunal heard that Mr X, who started work with the Campbeltown golf club as a laundry assistant in August 2016, first raised concerns in 2018.
The judgment states: “At some point in early to mid-2018 the claimant e-mailed the respondent’s Operations Manager Mhairi Morrison and advised her that he was experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace by Ms Y.
“He also advised her that Ms Y was abusing prescription medication. It is not clear what steps
were taken by Ms Morrison to investigate the claimant’s complaint.”
Then, in September that year, he again emailed Ms Morrison to say that he was removing himself from the rota on the days Ms Y was working.
There was a string of emails between the two, in which Mr X stated: “The groping/spanking and sexual harassment occurred several times a day for months, everyone involved in the laundry are witnesses, every question and conversation Ms Y led bar a few were about sexual acts.
“I left my details on the report which were never used, as far as I know no statements were taken from co-workers/staff in the laundry regarding these complaints.”
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Ms Morrison stated that the complaint was passed on to an external HR firm, and their position was that “without proof and it being the case of your word against her there wasn’t much we could do”.
She also claimed she didn’t realise “how severe it was”.
Employment judge Mary Kearns stated: “It appeared that the complaint was not properly investigated, and no outcome seemed to have been given to the claimant [at the time of the hearing].”
The preliminary hearing was to establish whether or not the tribunal claims had been submitted within the correct timeframe.
Under employment legislation, a worker has two years in which to make a claim for unfair dismissal from the date they leave the company.
The tribunal heard that the club’s position was that Mr X had resigned after refusing to attend the laundry and they sent his p45 detailing accrued holiday pay etc to his old address. This would have meant that his tribunal claim was out of time.
However, the tribunal found that the date of dismissal was December 2018 when the company stopped paying his wages.
His claim for sexual harassment may also be out of time as a worker only has three months in which to make such a claim, however the tribunal has asked for more information on this point.
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During the hearing, the tribunal heard from the club’s general manager Andrew Hogan who claimed that Mr X had never complained about sexual harassment.
However, Judge Kearns said the emails between Mr X and Ms Morrison “undermined confidence in his evidence”.
The case will proceed to a further hearing. The Herald attempted to contact MacHrihanish Dunes but did not receive a response.
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