A hotel has been ordered to pay a teenage restaurant worker £18,000 after the head chef asked if she would do sexual favours for cash.
The young waitress felt ‘embarrassed and uncomfortable’ by the man’s questioning.
After complaining to her supervisor about the inappropriate comments from the chef, bosses took no notice and failed to investigate the claims.
This then resulted in managers eventually removing the woman from a work WhatsApp group chat after not offering her shifts for a period of time.
A tribunal this week came to the decision that the teenager was a victim of sexual harassment and ordered the country hotel to pay her £18,409 in damages.
The tribunal in Cardiff heard the woman started work at the Heritage Park Hotel in the Rhondda Valley near Pontypridd in July 2019 in what was her first job, according to Wales Online.
Whilst working a shift in the restaurant she entered the kitchen where a conversation of a sexual nature was taking place between some of her colleagues.
The head chef - who was not identified in the proceedings - then asked her: “Would you do it for money?”
She was ‘immediately embarrassed and uncomfortable’ by this comment and answered ‘no,’ the hearing was told.
She complained to the hotel - which describes itself as the ‘perfect choice for business conferences, romantic retreats and weekends away’ - the next day but received no reply.
She was left ‘confused’ about what to do after the company did not take any action following her complaint, the hearing was told.
She told the tribunal in Cardiff that she felt let down by the hotel – which is owned by MKK Hotels - as she has since lost her confidence and finds it difficult to trust managers and others in authority.
She added she is worried it is going to happen to her again at work and had asked her manager not to work with the head chef again.
She was then placed on furlough from April 2020 due to the pandemic but was told there were no hours for her when the hotel, where an executive suite room can cost £200 a night, reopened in August - even though other waitresses returned to work.
She was also removed from the employee WhatsApp Group which was used for allocating shifts.
Employment Judge Claire Ward said of the chef’s ‘do it for money’ remark: “This was clearly unwanted conduct.
“It was of a sexual nature and had the purpose and had the effect of violating [the woman’s] dignity and creating an intimidating environment for [her] to the extent that she did not want to work with him again.”
Her award included £5877.30 in compensation and £8,000 for injury to her feelings.
