Employer ordered to pay £81,834 after harassment of female employee

An office worker who was subjected to racial and gender harassment by her employer has been awarded £81,834 compensation.

Ms S Khan had worked as an account administrator for property agency SN Estates Property Services.

Khan, who described herself as coming from a Pakistani background, was first racially harassed just one month into her employment.

The company owner, Mr Miah, called her into his office where he expressed his disappointment that his daughter had married a Pakistani man. He used a racial slur to describe his son-in-law.

Another incident occurred when Khan’s fiancé picked her up from work. Miah shouted to her: “Is that the guy you are going to marry, the small little dude? He is an idiot, is he a [p***] too?” 

Miah would call her ‘kamini’, which she said meant ‘bitch’ in Urdu. He would sometimes be volatile and at one point said: “Why aren’t you all doing your jobs properly, do you want me to come and chop all your heads off, when will you [p***s] learn?”

Several more incidents occurred over a five-month period.

The final straw came when Miah blamed Khan for not providing him with information about a new employee. He phoned her and said: “You can’t even do your jobs properly, you retards from all corners of the world.” 

Khan reported the call to the police and Miah was later convicted of malicious communication.

Two days later she didn’t attend work as she was stressed and suffering from migraines. Her fiancé asked the company for a formal grievance meeting to discuss Miah’s behaviour.

Miah refused the meeting and dismissed Khan via email later that day.

She brought claims of race and sexual harassment against the company. The tribunal ruled she had been harassed numerous times due to both her race and gender.

It concluded she had been dismissed because of the suggestion of a formal grievance hearing rather than for issues with her performance.

Khan was awarded £81,834 for financial loss, injury to feelings, aggravated damages, psychiatric injury and pension loss.

Please contact Sorcha Monaghan for more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of employment law.