A female security guard has been awarded £15,000 for injury to feelings after her employer failed to provide a lock on a communal toilet.
An employment tribunal in Glasgow found that the claimant, Vaneeza Abbas, had been subject to sex discrimination and sexual harassment.
A claim over alleged unlawful deduction of wages did not succeed, despite some failings on the employer’s part.
The discrimination experienced by Abbas led to a loss of earnings and further award of £716 by the tribunal.
ISS Facility Services, the claimant’s employer, is a global firm that counts Virgin Media among its clients. It employs 10,000 people in the UK.
Sex discrimination
Lidl employee wins £22k for sex discrimination and victimisation
Female MoD employee reveals sexual harassment incidents
Abbas began working for the firm in February 2019 at its Tannochside Park facility in a reception and security role. She was the only female employee based at the site.
The toilet facilities consisted of a washroom for men and an accessible toilet. The men’s washroom contained two urinals, two basins for washing hands and one cubicle. The accessible toilet was a single cubicle and contained a sanitary bin.
During her probation, Abbas worked at other sites which did have separate men’s and women’s toilets. She began to question the absence of women’s facilities at Tannochside Park at this point.
She was encouraged by colleagues to use the accessible toilet. But this had a faulty lock and could be opened from the outside. Men routinely used the accessible toilet and Abbas found she constantly had to clean it before using it. In September 2019 she wrote an email to her manager Mr Morall stating that the toilet was in an “unhygienic condition with urine traces on the toilet seat” and arguing her basic female needs had been ignored.
Despite Morall proposing action including a new lock and proper signage, all that happened was that a “Ladies” sign was printed out and stuck to the door of the accessible toilet with Sellotape. Ms Abbas repeatedly found that this had fallen off and routinely reattached it.
She emailed again in November 2019 about the condition of the toilet and the lack of respect male workers on the site had shown to the fact it was now a women’s toilet.
The pattern of complaint over the inadequate facilities and of inadequate measures taken by managers continued for more than three years.
In March 2022 Abbas raised a grievance involving sexual harassment and discrimination caused by the toilet arrangements, alleging that men were “abusing” the accessible toilet by ensuring she always had to clean it before using it herself. In response there was a promise of a lock being fitted but this did not happen until February 2023. The grievance was heard by security account manager Gwen MacKenzie, who issued a note to managers suggesting there was no evidence of men using the facilities in a way “to bully or harass” the claimant.
Sexual harassment
The sexual harassment part of Abbas’s claim stemmed from an incident in March 2022 when a colleague rubbed his genitals in front of her while making eye contact with her. CCTV footage from the incident was referred to Police Scotland. In her response to the grievance, MacKenzie, who had interviewed the male colleague involved, said the evidence was inconclusive.
Abbas was signed off work for sickness at the time the lock was fitted. She told the tribunal that since her return in June 2023 she was satisfied with the toilet arrangements at the site. Her sick notes refer to stress and elbow pain, symptoms that the claimant associated with her experiences at work.
The tribunal found that regarding the sexual harassment incident Abbas was “clear and consistent” throughout her evidence. This was in contrast to the evidence of ISS managers, which was second-hand and relied on the fact that the man accused of harassment had his back to the CCTV cameras so what he was doing with his hands could not be seen. The tribunal was satisfied that the harassment did occur and that it had had an adverse effect on Abbas.
Judge Ronald Mackay upheld the claim of sex discrimination regarding the toilet, noting that the “inadequacy of the facilities” had been recognised by managers themselves.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
