Our Marketing Manager Karen Clarkson was there to pick up the gong for us, and spoke for us all when she said: âWe wer
WE’RE YOUR VENUS Why we’ve all gone Bananaramas this week
INTO PLANETARY Intriguing details about our sister planet (aptly)
OFF THE BUSES A harassed female driver driven to tribunal
Your weekly bulletin of wit & wonder in the world of…
Wg Employment Issue 610/July 2018 Hands up who grew up singing along to Bananarama? Oh come on! Who could resist? The eighties’ biggest girl band got most of us leaping around the bedroom singing into our hairbrush (when we weren’t massively back-combing with it and spraying on a quart of Elnett). You’ll have to forgive me this week - I’ve got Bananarama on my mind… Goddess on the mountain top Burning like a silver flame… …is running on a loop in my head ever since last Thursday when Warner Goodman won VENUS AWARDS’ COMPANY OF THE YEAR! Goodman won VENUS AWARDS’ COMPANY OF THE YEAR! You may remember we picked up the regional award – recognising companies which champion women in business – last year. Created by Tara Howard in 2009, the Venus National Finals brought together regional winners from Hampshire, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset and Thames Valley, with categories including Inspirational Woman of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year and Networker of the Year. Our Marketing Manager Karen Clarkson was there to pick up the gong for us, and spoke for us all when she said: “We were so proud to have been chosen for the Regional Award in November and we are now overwhelmed to have been chosen as the National winner. We truly promote equal opportunities across our firm and realise that our employees, male or female, have families and lives outside of work. That is why we have invested heavily in our IT and phone systems to allow benefits such as flexible working. Promotion opportunities are available for all… seven of our 17 partners are women, four out of six of our business heads are women and 20 out of 24 associates are women.” Me? I don’t spend much time thinking about being a woman in the workplace. It doesn’t really occur to me. And that, I think, is the pay-off for working here in WG Towers. Gender just isn’t an issue. That said… She’s got it…. Ooh baby, she’s got it… I’m your venus I’m your fire Your legal expert in employment law OK, so it doesn’t rhyme, but I’m a lawyer. It’s all about the accuracy. And if you don’t know the tune… go HERE. (This earworm is my gift to you all today. No really, don’t thank me…)
Driven to design And speaking of a gender bias free workplace brings me, rather sadly, to the G v London General Transport Services and others. Ms G was employed by London General Transport Services (LGTS) as a bus driver in late 2013 - a heavily male-dominated industry, with approximately 90% of the 500 drivers being male. Ms G submitted two formal written complaints against other drivers who had allegedly made comments towards her of a sexual nature in late 2014 and early 2015. As far as Ms G was aware, LGTS had failed to come to any formal outcome. In June 2016, Ms G made a series of complaints relating to further comments of a sexual nature which she had received from her colleagues.
EVENT SEASON 2018 PULLING A SICKIE th Wednesday 5 September
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT th Wednesday 17 October
12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS nd Thursday 22 November To book onto any of our events email Karen Clarkson or Gina Spampinato at
[email protected]
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Ms G later wrote a group email to all 500 drivers stating that she did not wish to receive comments “that are of a blatant insulting sexual nature and/or those comments that have a sexual undertone to them.” A number of the allegations were set out in the email, which later said, “Keep your hands AND thoughts to yourselves.” Ms G’s manager had previously warned her not to write group emails, and so responded to this, regarding it unacceptable and said that she must follow the proper procedure if she was concerned about sexual harassment in the workplace. He also warned that there was a chance of disciplinary action being taken against her for the email. She was subsequently signed off work on sick leave. A few weeks later, Ms G had a meeting with two different managers at LGTS to discuss her return to work. At the meeting, Ms G submitted a written grievance for the sexual harassment. Ms G also covertly recorded the interview. During the meeting, one of the managers laughed at Ms G’s descriptions of the treatment she had suffered. He told Ms G her colleagues were joking and also suggested that she deter prospective harassers by saying that she was pregnant or married. Ms G never returned from sick leave and resigned in September 2017.
Warner Goodman are a true class act and I would strongly recommend that every company should have them on their speed dial! Contact us today on 02380 717717 or email
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Ms G brought claims to the Employment Tribunal (ET) for harassment, discrimination, and constructive unfair dismissal; she succeeded in all three claims. The ET found that a number of the comments constituted unwanted sexual conduct which had violated Ms G’s dignity, and created an environment for her which was intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive. The ET also argued that Ms G had been treated less favourably than a man in her position would have been. LGTS trivialised and belittled her allegations, and by advising her to lie to avoid the harassment they failed to address the underlying inappropriate behaviour in the workforce. All of this had breached the mutual trust and confidence in the relationship, resulting in an unfair, harassing and discriminatory procedure which made her want to resign. Ms G was awarded more than £55,000. This is yet another example of the problems associated with an inappropriate workplace culture.
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Awareness of these issues has been heightened in the last year with the #MeToo campaign and the Weinstein and President’s Club scandals – employers should be wary of the potential risk of liability involved.
Get versed in Venus A short bit here this week thanks to excessive Venus celebration above. Three interesting facts you might not have known about VENUS (the planet - not the award):
Venus does not have any moons or rings.
Venus is nearly as big as the Earth with a diameter of 12,104 km.
A day on the surface of Venus (solar day) would appear (much like a day doing your tax returns) to take 117 Earth days.
Contact the team Sarah Whitemore (Partner) – 02380 717462 Howard Robson (Partner) – 02380 717718 Lisa Joyce (Associate) – 02380 717447 Emma Kemp (Associate) – 02380 717486 Natalie Rawson (Solicitor) – 02380 717403 Chris Greep (Solicitor) – 02380 717411
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