Sacking a female colleague because your wife thinks you’re having affair is sex discrimination

Firing a female colleague because your wife believes you are having an affair is sex discrimination, a tribunal has ruled.

Debbie Jacka, a surveyor, took her former employer Peter Ellicock to tribunal when he sacked her as a director of his firm after his partner accused them of having an affair.

Ms Jacka, 43, told the tribunal she was left “distressed and humiliated” when Mr Ellicock told her she had to be “extra nice” to his then fiancée, Emma Rowson, now Emma Ellicock, during a meeting in 2021.

Mr Ellicock fired Ms Jacka from £60,000 a year job

The tribunal heard that just a few months later, Mr Ellicock fired Ms Jacka from her £60,000 job, claiming it was obvious that the two women “despised” each other.

She is now in line for compensation after representing herself at a five-day hearing and successfully suing Mr Ellicock for sex discrimination.

The hearing in Exeter, Devon, was told that prior to this falling out, Ms Jacka and Mr Ellicock had owned an estate agents in Cornwall together and had enjoyed a “close and harmonious professional relationship” for around six years.

“There was no relationship of a romantic or sexual nature between them at any point,” the tribunal heard.

In April 2021 Ms Jacka joined a surveying firm which Mr Ellicock had set up, called Steren, as a director, shareholder and trainee surveyor.

“Early in the summer Mr Ellicock confided in [Ms Jacka] regarding his relationship with Mrs Ellicock, referring to jealousy and trust issues,” the tribunal heard.

“He told [her] that Mrs Ellicock was not happy with the amount of time Mr Ellicock and [she] worked together on appointments but said that it was working well for the company so would continue.”

Spent most of day together

The tribunal heard that in August 2021 Ms Jacka and Mr Ellicock spent most of the day together undertaking homebuyer surveys.

“Mrs Ellicock became unhappy because Mr Ellicock was not answering his phone,” the tribunal heard. “Mr Ellicock told [Ms Jacka] that she did not trust him.”

On the evening of August 9 2021 Mrs Ellicock accused Mr Ellicock of having an affair with Ms Jacka, the tribunal heard.

The next day he told Ms Jacka, who lives with her husband and five-year-old daughter in St Agnes, what his partner suspected.

“He told [her] that she could not discuss their conversation or the accusation with Mrs Ellicock,” the tribunal heard. “He said that [Ms Jacka] should be extra nice to her.

‘Distressed and humiliated’

”[Ms Jacka] felt distressed and humiliated at this accusation which she considered to be very serious and clearly untrue.

“Mr Ellicock told her that he could no longer go out on appointments with her, talk to her about non-work matters or meet with her outside of the office even if Mr Radcliffe was present because Mrs Ellicock was not comfortable with him doing so.”

The tribunal found that from September, Ms Jacka started going on site visits on her own.

“The tribunal considered that the reason for this sudden change in approach was Mrs Ellicock’s suspicion regarding an affair,” it said.

The hearing was told that following this, Mr Ellicock lost his temper with Ms Jacka at work on two occasions which the tribunal found was related to his wife’s suspicions.

“The explanation for Mr Ellicock’s behaviour was the background pressure being put on him by Mrs Ellicock, which meant after a long and harmonious working relationship, he was now treating [Ms Jacka] in this manner which was intended to be hostile towards her,” the panel said.

‘Hostile, offensive and sexist’ messages sent

He also sent her ‘hostile, offensive and sexist’ messages, the tribunal found, driven by the ‘suggestion of an affair’.

On 11 November 2021 Mr Ellicock called her into a meeting and told her that the quality of her work was not good enough.

“Clearly you and Emma despise each other,” the tribunal heard he said. “I can’t work with you any more”.

Mr Ellicock and partner Jason Ratcliffe then offered to buy her shares in exchange for her resignation as a director saying they would shut down the Redruth-based company if she did not agree.

The following year, when he discovered Ms Jacka was suing him, his wife and the company for discrimination, he reported her for alleged mortgage fraud in relation to a reference letter he had written for her, the hearing was told.

Upholding Ms Jacka’s claims of sex discrimination in relation to the affair and her dismissal, the tribunal said Mr Ellicock had ‘violated’ her dignity and had created an ‘intimidating, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment’ for her.

Mr Ellicock was also found to have victimised her by reporting her for mortgage fraud, which the tribunal said was motivated by her discrimination claim.

Ms Jacka’s compensation will be decided at a later hearing.