Ms Frances Fricker v Gartner UK Limited Heard: Watford Hearing Centre — 2022

The claimant, Ms Frances Fricker, worked for Gartner UK Limited from 1 September 2017 until she resigned with immediate effect on 15 October 2019. The tribunal found that her line manager, Mr Giuseppe Ajroldi, sexually harassed her and engaged in conduct related to her sex, including repeated comments about her photographs and appearance, repeated use of the phrase "good girl", comments about her weight, and unwelcome sexual advances during an overnight work stay in August 2018. The tribunal also found that he made the dating-website comment on 10 September 2018 and that his conduct escalated into hostile and intimidating behaviour, including in connection with the CTA performance process.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence and that of Mr John McAdams, and it rejected the evidence of Mr Roger Vestey and Ms Katie Wyatt on the critical disputed issues. It noted the respondent's failure to call Mr Ajroldi, the presence of redactions and omissions in the documentary disclosure, and what it regarded as a closing of ranks around Mr Ajroldi. It found that the claimant was treated less favourably after rejecting the harassment, including in the performance-management allegations, and it rejected the respondent's section 109(4) defence as wholly without merit.

On victimisation, the tribunal accepted that the claimant made protected acts, including the complaint to Mr Vestey on 22 October 2018 and the formal grievance on 30 October 2018. It found that aspects of the grievance handling were poor, including delay, confidentiality concerns, refusal of a companion, and the failure to deal properly with the complaint. However, it held that the detriments were not because of the protected acts themselves. The tribunal said the respondent was motivated by a desire to deny liability and protect its position, rather than by the fact that the claimant had complained, so the victimisation claim was dismissed.

The tribunal also upheld the constructive unfair dismissal claim. It found that the claimant's employment relationship had broken down because of the harassment and the respondent's handling of her complaints, the assignment of a new territory with limited prospects, the refusal to move her to another team, and the failure to address Mr Wood's conduct. It accepted that she resigned in response to those breaches and held that she had not waived them. The tribunal found the dismissal was constructive and unfair.

The separate direct sex discrimination claim under s13 Equality Act 2010 was dismissed. The tribunal said it could not find both harassment and direct discrimination on the same course of conduct and did not accept that there was a distinct s13 detriment claim on the facts as found. The claims were in time because the harassment formed a continuing act from early November 2017 to 22 October 2018, and the constructive dismissal claim was also presented in time. The judgment did not determine remedy and listed the case for a remedy hearing.