A woman asked by her manager to do a twirl in a new skirt she bought has won a sex discrimination case.
The car saleswoman made a number of allegations against her former employers at the Peter Vardy showroom in Glasgow.
She claimed six counts of discrimination on the grounds of gender and because she was pregnant.
She later miscarried.
The woman also claimed constructive dismissal as she handed in her notice due to stress. Only one of her allegations was upheld following a five-day employment tribunal.
The tribunal heard that on September 30, 2017, the woman, referred to as Ms X, was wearing a “pencil skirt” that she said was creased from sitting in her car while driving to work.
She claimed that while at a team meeting, her boss – named as Mr Y by the tribunal – handed her a £20 note and told her to buy an iron and board and go to an upstairs office to straighten out her skirt.
He denied the allegations.
She said she then left the showroom and went to the female toilets where she was “upset and crying”.
Another senior manager, Darren Cuthbertson, was then alleged to have shouted: “You always have to make a drama and a big deal out of things.”
Ms X said she drove to a nearby Tesco store where she bought a new skirt.
She drove back to the showroom and went to change into the new skirt and handed back the £20 note, the hearing heard.
The woman claimed Cuthbertson described her as “a mess” and made her “turn around in a circle” in front of another manager, Alistair Page, when she returned with the new skirt.
She handed her notice in two days later after believing she was being singled out when a group message was sent to staff telling them there would be a clothes inspection the next day.
"The woman also alleged Mr Y told her she was “the worst member of his team” and “wouldn’t have a job if she continued to cause problems” when she complained about the way she was being treated."
Miss X did not want to return to work after the incident because Mr Page was off and would not be there to offer her his support.
The tribunal heard that when she raised the issue of bullying she was not sure she was pregnant, had not taken a test and had not told any of her colleagues.
She claimed a later offer of mediation following her grievance was withdrawn when the firm discovered she was pregnant.
She said: “The effects of the discrimination and the ultimate impact of losing my job were greater due to my pregnancy and miscarriage.” The panel found in favour of Ms X over the skirt incident and ruled this would not have been said to a male staff member – but her five other claims were rejected.
Judge Jane Garvie said: “Tribunal found the claimant’s evidence compelling that she was asked to ‘turn around in a circle’ in front of Mr Cuthbertson and Mr Page and that Mr Cuthbertson asked Mr Page ‘what he thought of her attire’. On any view, this was an entirely inappropriate thing to ask an employee to do.”
A hearing will be held later to decide if compensation is to be awarded.
The Daily Record has issued a correction after a version of this story, supplied to us by a court agency, claimed Mr Alastair Page made comments that were inaccurate. This story has been updated. We are happy to apologise to Mr Page for the error.
