Gender pay gap/Equal pay claim, discrimination and sexual harassment

[shepcobain]

My daughter left the company she worked for in March 2021 and has recently settled at another place in a new position. Whilst she was at her previous place of work, she became friends with one of the managers (a married man) and would often go to lunch with him and others (as friends). Over time, this manager would become a bit creepy and stand extremely close to my daughter when talking and often touch her on her arm. On one occasion, he came behind her and started to massage her, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her cheek. This was witnessed by a colleague who noted how uncomfortable she looked. During evenings and weekends, he would attempt to phone her and text and even sent semi-nude photos. She wanted a quiet and easy life, so she never said anything, although it did make her extremely uncomfortable. Her colleagues commented on the inappropriate behaviour displayed by said individual, but she didn't know what to do as she feared she would lose her job if she reported it. Since leaving the company, the same individual has sent her messages which are indirectly sexual explicit, and he has also sent my son in law naked photos of himself. My son in law is still employed by the same company and isn't sure if his job is safe by reporting such actions. However, he fully supports my daughter and agrees to report this sick individual is the right thing to do.

Whilst my daughter worked at the company, she was seconded to the role for three years, where she later found out she was being paid £10,000 a year less than her male comparators within the team. She was doing the same role as them and in some instanced more. When she questions this, she is shot down and made to feel like a fool. She has everything documented, including a rough timeline of events. She even has witnesses statements corroborating she was doing the full role.

I didn't realise any of this was going on, as I would have told her to report it immediately. However, I do understand the difficulty of the situation. All of the above reasons are why she left the company. As a result, she phoned ACAS for advice, who mentioned early conciliation. And employment tribunals. She has opted to go down the early conciliation route, using ACAS as guidance, hoping to achieve compensation and closure on the above wrongdoings. Unfortunately, ACAS has replied to say the company denies all allegations and wrongdoing.

I'm after any advice or comments on how to deal with this. ACAS early conciliation has proved useless, and we are wondering if a well-written letter and copies of witness statements and evidence may force them to investigate the claims further. I want to support her the best I can, and I think she should continue down the tribunal/legal route, as the company and individuals deserve everything they get. But, at the same time, I don't want this affecting my daughter's mental health anymore, something which it has done for some time (it went on for three years).

Thanks in advance.

[ULA]

Did your daughter ensure that Acas received her early conciliation notification before the end of the limitation date, which for an equal pay claim is 6 months fr0m the date of her termination?

If ACAS cannot engage further with the company because they deny any wrongdoing then it may be that the next stage in the process would be for ACAS to provide your daughter with an Early Conciliation Certifcate and then this will allow her to proceed to make and Employment Tribunal claim by completing what is called and ET1. In this document she can set out all her evidence in regard to her equal pay claim and once the employer recevies this it may prompt them to consider a settlement rather than continue wiht the Tribunal process.

Your daughter will be out of time for making a discrimination and sexual harrassment claim as the time limit is 3 months, but assuming she raised the equal pay issue with ACAS within the 6 month timescale then she has the possibility to proceed with this claim.

Does your daughter have all the evidence that she tried to raise the issue e.g. an email trail of correspondence where she had raised this and subsequently been "shot down".

I do not want to put your daughter off making a claim but the Tribuanl process has a real backlog at the moment and it is unlikely that any case made now would get to a final hearing before the end of 2022.

In regard to your son-in-law it is entirely up to him but his option would be to raise a grievance - he would need to provide evidence and he may have deleted the photos as soon as they arrived on his phone. In any event this is unacceptable behaviour from a work colleague as I am sure it was unrequested and certainly from a manager. Does your son-in-law believe he has become a target because your daughter has left the company?

[shepcobain]

Did your daughter ensure that Acas received her early conciliation notification before the end of the limitation date, which for an equal pay claim is 6 months fr0m the date of her termination?

If ACAS cannot engage further with the company because they deny any wrongdoing then it may be that the next stage in the process would be for ACAS to provide your daughter with an Early Conciliation Certifcate and then this will allow her to proceed to make and Employment Tribunal claim by completing what is called and ET1. In this document she can set out all her evidence in regard to her equal pay claim and once the employer recevies this it may prompt them to consider a settlement rather than continue wiht the Tribunal process.

Your daughter will be out of time for making a discrimination and sexual harrassment claim as the time limit is 3 months, but assuming she raised the equal pay issue with ACAS within the 6 month timescale then she has the possibility to proceed with this claim.

Does your daughter have all the evidence that she tried to raise the issue e.g. an email trail of correspondence where she had raised this and subsequently been "shot down".

I do not want to put your daughter off making a claim but the Tribuanl process has a real backlog at the moment and it is unlikely that any case made now would get to a final hearing before the end of 2022.

In regard to your son-in-law it is entirely up to him but his option would be to raise a grievance - he would need to provide evidence and he may have deleted the photos as soon as they arrived on his phone. In any event this is unacceptable behaviour from a work colleague as I am sure it was unrequested and certainly from a manager. Does your son-in-law believe he has become a target because your daughter has left the company?

Fortunately, my daughter submitted her claim to ACAS within the six-month window. However, with regards to the harassment and sexual harassment, within the last two months, the individual has unsolicitedly made contact with my daughter via text message, where he told her that he would like to see her in a sexually demeaning act. He apologised several days later with the excuse that he was sleep texting. It raised the red flag, which prompted her to share the historical sexual harassment experiences she was subjected to.

My son in law still works for the company and is concerned that they will try and cover it up and make him a target. My daughter has booked an appointment to see an employment law solicitor, and based on what she has described already, they have indicated that they may be willing to take it on based on a no-win, no-fee case.

[ULA]

Glad you hear that she has complied with the necessary dates which is really important for pursuing her claim.

There does seem that there is a case to answer both on equal pay and the ongoing harrassement from this manager, even after she has left the company. Having a solicitor on board will help to make the process less stressful for your daughter than if she was trying to do this as a litigant in person. Just maybe check any reviews/ratings on the solicitor and or the firm before signing up.

I am sure the solicitor for your daugher could also advise your son-in-law as to what he should do, given the conduct of the manager towards him.

If your daughter needs any further additional support from us at LegalBeagles then just come back to this thread.