Woman wins £6k after colleague said 'go back to your stripping job'

Woman wins £6,000 for sex discrimination after male colleague told her ‘go back to your stripping job’ – and HE then wins nearly £5,000 for race discrimination over the way the firm handled her complaint

• Ashleigh Fountain was told by Waqar Butt she would be sacked, tribunal hears

A female worker has won almost £6,000 in a sex discrimination case after a male colleague told her to ‘go back to your stripping job’ as ‘that’s all you’re good for’ – before he then won nearly £5,000 over the way the company handled her complaint. 

Ashleigh Fountain was told by Waqar Butt she was going to be sacked and as a ‘lusty woman’ she would be better suited to a career taking her clothes off for money, an employment tribunal heard.

He claimed he made the remark because blonde Miss Fountain had ‘antagonised’ him and wasn’t being a ‘good friend’ at the project they were working on together.

But, due to his comment, she sued the recruitment company which hired her and has now won £5,960 in compensation.

In an unusual twist, Mr Butt himself won almost £5,000 after successfully claiming race discrimination over the firm’s handling of her complaint against him. He claimed a manager called him a ‘liar’ and used ‘racist language’ with phrases such as ‘I know you people’. 

Ashleigh Fountain has won almost £6,000 in a sex discrimination case after a male colleague told her to ‘go back to your stripping job’

The tribunal in Southampton, Hants, heard that Miss Fountain and Mr Butt worked on a Brexit-related haulier project as part of their work with Elevate Staffing from 12 November 2020.

Their job was to quiz HGV and lorry drivers at motorway service stations to provide an understanding on the changes impacting them as a result of Britain leaving the EU.

The company told the tribunal Mr Butt was removed from this project in December due to behaviour issues and complaints against him due to ‘inappropriate comments towards women’.

On December 9, Miss Fountain – who is from the Portsmouth area – reported being threatened by a colleague to manager Tara Stephens.

As part of the investigation, the tribunal heard Ms Stephens said: ‘I asked Waqar what had happened and he said Ashleigh had antagonised him and was not being a good friend.

‘Apparently, they had had an agreement about Ashleigh giving Waqar lifts to work and therefore that’s why they bid for the same shifts.

‘I tried to make out he was sexist. He said he would never do that sort of thing as he is a gentleman. Waqar then went back to the conversation about Ashleigh not doing her job properly and how she was never there.

‘I tried to bring him back to today’s events so many times but he didn’t want to talk about it he just said that I needed to sack Ashleigh.’

Ms Stephens told the hearing about a time she heard the pair arguing: ‘I heard raised voices. Waqar was shouting at Ashleigh and as he walked away, he said ‘you’re going to be sacked, you will have to go back to your stripping job as that’s all you’re good for’.’

Miss Fountain said he told her that ‘a stripper job would be more suited’ to her ‘as a lusty woman’.

While working on the project, Mr Butt had also complained that Miss Fountain had been late to work, sleeping at work and bunking off.

When discussing this with Ms Stephens, Mr Butt claims she called him a ‘liar’ and used ‘racist language’.

He told the tribunal: ‘Her bias was surely towards [Miss Fountain] and I very soon realised she wasn’t there to listen to my side of the story or take any evidence or proof. The bias could be women to women or British to British.

‘[She] kept calling me ‘liar’ and ‘sexist’ and phrases like ‘I know you people’ or ‘I’ve dealt with people like you’, which were quite racist.’

Employment Judge Jonathan Gray said: ‘We find that the matters proven on the balance of probability to have occurred on 9 December 2020 are abusive and demeaning verbal references on the grounds of sex by [Mr Butt] towards [Miss Fountain].

‘This is less favourable treatment when compared to a hypothetical male comparator as we accept that such comments would not be made to a man.

‘In respect of the concerns over racist conduct towards [Mr Butt] him not being believed by Ms Stephens, there is sufficient [evidence] in our view [to form] the racial connection to the comments ‘I know you people’ and ‘I’ve dealt with people like you.’

Miss Fountain won her claim for sex discrimination, but a claim of victimisation was dismissed.

Mr Butt was awarded £4,768 in total.

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