Employee who was held against his will during interview by female manager and being ridiculed for being intimidated wins sexism case

The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a former employee was subjected to harassment related to his sex and discriminated against on the grounds of sex by his Employer.

The case involved Mr Toby King, who worked for Tesco Stores Limited as a Customer Assistant from 18 November 2017 until he was dismissed with effect on 2 March 2019 for continually failing to show up at work.

Following Mr King being berated on the shop floor by his manager (Jo Francis) for his alleged inflexibility in offering additional hours ahead of Christmas, Mr King who suffered from PTSD was invited to a staff room to discuss the matter. During the meeting on 19 December 2018, Mr King told Ms Francis that he felt “uncomfortable” and went to “open the door to leave”.

Ms Francis then prevented Mr King from leaving the room where he was being interviewed by putting her hand out firmly, placing her foot against the door to prevent it opening and further blocking the Claimant in the doorway by using her shoulder. Ms Francis also made robust physical contact with Mr King by grabbing and holding onto his arm to stop him leaving the room.

Having raised the issue with Management, it was simply assumed that Mr King could not have been intimidated by Ms Francis as she was heavily pregnant, was therefore vulnerable and would have avoided any form of physical altercation at all costs to protect her baby. Therefore, the allegations were dismissed notwithstanding CCTV stills which show Mr King struggling to exit the interview room.

As a result of the incident that took place, Mr King was signed off from work with PTSD and anxiety. Due to his failure to then attend his shifts after his period of sickness absence, Tesco Stores Limited dismissed Mr King.

Employment Judge George held that Mr King had been subjected to harassment related to sex as a result of receiving the unwanted conduct from Ms Francis, which caused Mr King to feel intimidated. Moreover, the Company’s decision to not reasonably investigate the conduct of Ms Francis amounted to sex discrimination.

Employment Judge George also found that the Company’s decision to dismiss Mr King also amounted to harassment related to sex and sex discrimination, as the Company simply dismissed Mr King’s reasons for his alleged unauthorised absence without prior agreement or notification and/or for failing to keep in contact with his manager as a result of the Company’s preconceptions that Mr King’s account of the incident was incorrect.

The case has now been scheduled for a remedy hearing to determine the amount of compensation to be awarded to the Claimant.

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Mr Toby King v Tesco Stores Limited
Employment Tribunal
August 2021
Employment Judge George