In person For the v Mr Neil Briggs, Director — 2023

Miss Chaudhry worked for Trustmark Plans Limited as an Office Manager from 23 June 2021 and was dismissed on 9 November 2021. The tribunal rejected the respondent's account that there had been contemporaneous disciplinary meetings and warning letters in September and October 2021, finding that the documents at pages 147 to 151 were not contemporaneous and that those meetings did not take place. It also found that the claimant was contractually entitled to a monthly commission or bonus of 0.5% of net monthly sales for October 2021, or alternatively that there was no rational basis to refuse payment of it; the amount was left for a remedy hearing.

On harassment, the tribunal found that Mr Leon Briggs asked the claimant on a date on 29 September 2021 and then continued with intrusive questions about her relationship, repeated the invitation, moved to sit opposite and stare at her, and invaded her personal space by standing close and brushing dust from her shoulder or top. It held that, looked at as a course of conduct, this unwanted behaviour amounted to harassment; the tribunal said it was sexual harassment and, alternatively, harassment related to sex. It rejected the separate allegation about the chair and whiteboard changes.

The tribunal also upheld harassment related to sex based on comments said to have been made when the claimant returned after absences linked to childcare, namely asking why the father of her child could not take time off and saying that this was the sort of problem an employer has when they hire a mother. It dismissed the pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim because the complaint was treated as concerning a possible future pregnancy rather than treatment because of the claimant's existing pregnancy within the protected period. However, it upheld direct sex discrimination in the dismissal itself, finding that the claimant had told Angella Salmon she was trying to become pregnant, that this was probably relayed to Neil Briggs, and that concern about pregnancy and mothers was a material influence on the dismissal. Compensation for the discrimination and harassment claims, and the amount of the bonus deduction, were left to a remedy hearing on 6 October 2023.