Woman gets £90,000 payout after boss slapped her on bottom with ruler

A woman who was slapped on the bottom with a ruler during a work meeting has settled her sexual harassment case for £90,000.

The woman, whose identity has been protected, said she felt so humiliated and embarrassed that she couldn't initially tell her mother or boyfriend what had happened.

She says that during the meeting in 2021, she was asked to stand up and turn around, before a male manager slapped her with a ruler, laughed, and said: "I'm sorry, I had to."

The woman looked at another male manager who saw the whole thing, and asked him: "Is that allowed?"

Both men treated the incident as a joke and told other employees who arrived at the meeting what had happened, according to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

After finding the courage to tell her mother and partner what happened, they advised her to take the complaint to HR and a more senior manager.

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She said her employer didn't even acknowledge the grievance for 10 days, and that she said she wouldn't come back to work until the matter was dealt with.

The woman also turned down an "inappropriate" offer to meet the manager who slapped her bottom, and a more senior manager, in a coffee shop off-site to see if they could resolve the issue.

Results of a company-led investigation took five weeks to arrive, and while it upheld the woman's complaint, she says it contained untrue and disparaging remarks which she vehemently denies.

These included concerns regarding her behaviour in the workplace and claims she had dressed and behaved in a provocative manner.

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She appealed against the content of the grievance outcome letter, and eventually resigned, feeling she could never work with the employer again.

The manager involved subsequently resigned from his job and did not work out his full notice, the Commission heard.

Chief commissioner Geraldine McGahey said: “To me this is a shocking story. There is something badly wrong with a workplace where this sort of behaviour is acceptable. This case demonstrates a toxic laddish culture that shows scant respect for female colleagues.

“This young woman felt she had no option but to resign from her job. She did not feel her employer was treating her as a victim of sexual harassment, rather it was treating her as a troublemaker.

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"She lost faith that any of her employer’s actions were in her interest or that they ever took her concerns seriously. The investigation made her feel like a perpetrator rather than a victim.

“The lesson here for employers is that they should take preventative action to ensure that everyone knows that sexual harassment at work is completely unacceptable.

"It is vital that women who seek help from their employer are not blamed for what happened to them."

As part of the settlement agreement, the employer is working with the Commission to ensure that they have comprehensive polices and training on sexual harassment.