London: A local court has ruled that reference to someone’s lack of hair was simply an insult and amounted to sexual harassment.
A three-member employment tribunal led by Judge Jonathan Brain ruled that reference to someone’s lack of hair was simply an insult or amounted to harassment.
The decision relates to a claim of unfair dismissal and sex discrimination brought by Tony Finn against the West Yorkshire-based British Bung Company, where he worked as an electrician for 24 years before he was fired in May last year.
“There is a connection between the word ‘bald’ on the one hand and the protected characteristic of sex on the other,” the judgment said.
The tribunal accepted that the lawyer appearing on behalf of the company, British Bung Manufacturing Company Limited, was right to submit that women, as well as men, may be bald.
“However, as all three members of the tribunal will vouchsafe, baldness is much more prevalent in men than women. We find it to be inherently related to sex,” the judgment said.
The case was heard at Sheffield in northern England between February and April this year.
A future date will be set to determine Finn’s compensation after his claims of sexual harassment, unfair dismissal, and wrongful dismissal were upheld earlier this week.
The incident related to Finn’s complaint about an altercation in July 2019 when factory supervisor Jamie King reportedly referred to his lack of hair during an argument.
“I was working on a machine that I had to cover awaiting specialist repair. The covers were taken off, and it was apparent that Jamie King had done this. When I spoke to him about it, he began to call me a stupid old bald cunt and threatened to deck me,” Finn said.
The tribunal concluded that King did threaten the claimant with physical violence and made pejorative remarks about the claimant’s age or appearance”.
