An employment tribunal has ruled that repeatedly winking at a female employee constitutes sexual harassment. The Mail has the details.
The judgement came in the case of waitress Jenna Almussawi who has won more than £41,000 in compensation after her treatment at the hands of “creepy” Glasgow restaurant boss Wejdi Moussa.
Mr. Moussa “singled out” Ms. Almussawi and subjected her to a campaign of harassment – including repeatedly winking at her when she walked past – which left her both “worried and scared”.
The tribunal said his actions of repeatedly offering her a lift home and twice overpaying her £20 “for doing a good job” also amounted to harassment.
Ms. Almussawi complained to colleagues about his behaviour, which included him telling her she had the “prettiest eyes he had ever seen”, but was overheard via CCTV by Mr. Moussa.
In retaliation, the male restaurant director stopped giving shifts to Ms. Almussawi and she was effectively dismissed.
Now an employment tribunal has condemned his behaviour and said his repeated winking amounted to harassment and was “clearly unwanted” conduct.
It awarded Ms. Almussawi – who represented herself at the hearing – a total of £41,535 in compensation. …
The tribunal concluded that Mr. Moussa’s repeated winking, among other claims, amounted to harassment.
Employment Judge Peter O’Donnell said: “This conduct was clearly unwanted by [Ms. Almussawi]; she did nothing to encourage it and actively discouraged it but [Mr. Moussa] persisted.
“She complained to other employees about it, something which [Mr. Moussa] was aware of and so would have known that [Mr. Almussawi] did not want him to behave in this way.”
They said the comments about her eyes, adjusting her clothing, repeated offers of a lift home and overpayment also amounted to harassment.
The tribunal said the conduct of Mr. Moussa had a “prohibited effect” on the worker in that she felt “worried and scared” by his conduct.
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