Employers need to make sure that managers are trained to interact appropriately with employees under their supervision. Off-the-cuff comments can land managers in hot water if employees don’t find the ‘joke’ funny. In the recent case of Coia v Event Medical Group, the Claimant approached her manager and said she had a surprise for him. His response was to ask whether she was pregnant. When she said that she was not he offered his services to help her to become pregnant.
It is hard to think of a way in which these comments could ever be regarded as appropriate. The employment tribunal agreed, holding that the Claimant had been treated less favourably on grounds of her sex. The tribunal found that the Claimant’s manager would not have reacted in the same way if a male colleague had told him that he had a surprise. The Claimant was awarded £6,000 in compensation for injury to feelings caused by the comments (and the Respondent’s poor response when she reported them. The tribunal found that the response, in and of itself, was an act of harassment).
This case is a reminder to employers of the importance of both effective management training on appropriate workplace interactions (to hopefully prevent these issues happening at all) and of taking complaints seriously if they are made.
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