Woman’s prosthetic arm v employer’s “looks” policy – £9,000 payout
A twenty two year old law graduate has just won over £9,000 from fashion chain Abercrombie and Finch who told her that her prosthetic arm did not “accord with the company look policy”. The woman, Miss Ream Dean, was then told to leave her duties on the sales floor and confined to the stockroom of the London store. She told the tribunal that she had initially been granted special permission to wear a cardigan to cover the join in her prosthetic limb. But a supervisor objected on the basis of the “looks” policy and banished her to the stock room. Miss Dean felt humiliated and upset. She worked five shifts but the pressure became so unbearable that she resigned.
And two very significant comments, echoing those we often make on our training courses, were made by both Miss Dean’s solicitor and the company. Her solicitor said:-
“It is all very well having glossy staff handbooks dealing with discrimination procedures. You must actually apply them.”
The employer’s barrister said:-
“We continue to believe that these events could have been avoided by better communication on the part of both parties.”
The multinational company have notched up a controversial record in America with their treatment of equality and diversity issues. It has already been successfully sued in the USA for scoring a zero to a female member of staff who failed their “hierarchy of hotness” as well as for inappropriate marketing images depicting black and ethnic community members. The company also once told a black applicant to apply for one of their overnight stocking vacancies.
Female Boss sent woman “present” of false breasts after cancer operation!
In what they slammed as a “sick joke”, an employment tribunal has awarded over £15,000 to a female employee whose female boss sent her false breasts following a double mastectomy to beat breast cancer. Nursery Nurse Mrs Janet Bryant received the false breasts as a “Christmas present” from her boss Mrs Susan Thompson. Horrified that another woman could do such a thing, she told the court that she had flung the “present” to the back of the wardrobe. However, on returning to work Mrs Thompson sustained a campaign of abuse with comments such as “oops I have dropped a boob” and “let’s make a clean breast of things”. All the stress with this abuse caused Mrs Bryant to resign her job and lose her marriage – compounded with the ordeal of a two year court battle. In her defence, Mrs Thompson said that the whole thing was a “joke” and gave evidence that she had once sent another staff member suffering with bowel disorders a supply of toilet paper! Condemning Mrs Thompson for these “sick jokes”, the judge awarded Mrs Bryant compensation.
Employee sacked for text explaining absence because of brother’s death!
A Scottish tiling company sacked an employee who used text messages to call in sick after his brother’s death. Mr Mark Morrison, a sales adviser with “Tile it All” in East Lothian, sent the first text to his manager to inform him of the bereavement. He subsequently sent a second text to say he would be off sick until after the funeral. He then received a phone call from the manager accepting the text messages, reminding him to bring in a doctor’s note to cover the absences. Mr Morrison returned to work and produced the medical certificate. Unfortunately, still recovering from his brother’s death he again went off work with depression and continued to send in text messages. He subsequently returned to work and following a disciplinary meeting was sacked.
In very strong terms, the Employment Judge had this to say:-
The company’s complaint was petty – previous text messages had been accepted We do not believe the company told Mr Morrison that he could not notify absences by way of text messages The company were well aware of the reason for his absence
And in a striking echo of the Miss Dean case – reported above – the judge concluded that a “modicum of common sense could have straightened all this out.”Again the case illustrates the need for consistency and the need to be “reasonable”, “proportionate” and “practical” when “carefully considering” these sensitive issues- common sense really!! Mr Morrison was awarded £7,000 in compensation.
Research says that people over 60 give employers a “business boost”
Lancaster University and McDonald’s Restaurants have published joint research findings to show that employees aged over 60 deliver what they call a “significant business boost.” The research, which looked at the performance of more than 400 McDonald’s outlets across Britain, revealed that:-
Levels of customer satisfaction were on average 20% higher in those places which employed staff aged 60 and over. 69% of those surveyed said that workers over 60 “connected well” with diners. 47% cited the ability of over 60’s to mentor younger colleagues
Two fifths of all McDonald’s restaurants employ staff aged 60 and over. The Vice President of the USA chain said:-
“Whilst the vast majority of our UK employees are under 30, it’s good for our people and good for our business to have a diverse range of ages in our restaurants. I urge employers across our sector to realise the benefits of an age diverse workforce. As our experience has shown, the right blend of youth and experience can make a real difference.”
Equal Pay – New moves to close the gap!
We reported in our last edition on the proposals within the Equality Bill to close the pay gap in the private sector between women and men. Pay audits and tougher powers for tribunals form part of the reform package. Now the government have joined forces with the Equality Commission to develop plans to close the pay gap using a voluntary code of practice. And the voluntary and third sector is being invited to join the initiative. The Commission has launched a consultation document which can be obtained from their website: – http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
QED Training delivers equal pay audit training. With practical tools and techniques we cover:-
Carrying out an Equal Pay Audit – A step by step guide from analysis to action planning Drawing up a non discriminatory job evaluation scheme Generic health checks for your monitoring and review arrangements Breaking through the jargon
Case studies and key “surgery” time to give advice on your issues will also be covered on this course. We encourage participants to let us have in advance copies of any pay policies, agreements and news about prevailing issues.
Two free resources this month!
Two new little “products” this month! We have drawn up short guides on:-
Design and marketing preferences of the sexes – some new research Cyber bullying – new perspectives
Just get in touch via the website or the contact details below:-
UK training expert in equality laws and diversity issues