A woman has been awarded more than £15,000 after a homophobic slur passed off as office 'banter' led to her quitting her job.
Mandy Fleming, 50, resigned from her job as a manager with Dundee-based contractor McGill Facilities Management Ltd, after an incident involving a colleague, an employment tribunal heard.
Staff were discussing an imminent change of office and Ms Fleming asked what the seating arrangement would be in the new base.
A colleague, Robert McFarlane, replied that it would be a "boy,girl,boy,girl" configuration.
When she replied that the office was predominantly female, Mr McFarlane replied: "You dykes sit at the top," or words to that effect.
The tribunal heard that he had made similar comments previously.
Ms Fleming was upset and embarrassed and was said to be so affected by the incident that she excluded herself from office chats and dreaded going into her £34,000 a year job.
She would call her husband from the car park every day and cry before going in.
She raised a grievance and the firm accepted that the word referred to had been used, but claimed that it had been “just banter”.
She resigned on February 25 2022 and accepted another job with a salary cut.
Ms Fleming won her tribunal case for harassment and unfair dismissal.
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Employment judge Andrew Walker awarded her £2,000 for injury to feelings and £13,056.00 for unfair dismissal.
An employee can make a constructive dismissal claim if they resign because they think their employer has seriously breached their employment contract.
Examples could include: regularly not being paid the agreed amount without a good reason. being bullied or discriminated against.
McGill went into administration in 2022 for the second time in four years and the administrators did not contest Ms Fleming's case.
There is no legal definition of bullying, and human resources professional body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says there is no single piece of legislation that covers it.
Employers have a duty of care to keep you safe at work, and workers may be able to claim for breach of employment contract if this doesn't happen.
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Employment lawyer Jessica Rowson at Oakwood Solicitors, who specialises in stress at work, says courts look at intention and the effect of behaviour on an individual.
The lack of a legal definition of bullying can cause confusion for both employees and employers, Ms Rowson adds.
A poll by the TUC found two thirds of young women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work.
Some 62% of those in the 25-to-34 age group reported being pestered or persecuted on work premises - as well as during virtual meetings, over email and on the phone, the survey by the TUC found.
Overall, 58% of women of all ages reported they had experienced being harassed, bullied or verbally abused while trying to do their job.
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