A former West Midlands Police firearms officer who won a sexual discrimination and harassment claim has had her tribunal award increased to £820,720.
Detective inspector Rebecca Kalam, who was stripped to her underwear during a training course, was originally awarded £30,000 for injury to feelings, but the employment tribunal has now concluded that she would have made superintendent had she not been mistreated. The new amount includes compensation for loss of earnings at that rank, based on a retirement age of 60, and for loss of pension.
In an employment tribunal earlier last year, Kalam described a “toxic and discriminatory” culture at West Midlands Police firearms unit, where she was made to feel “extremely uncomfortable” by some colleagues.
In March 2012, Kalam was made to perform in a mock training exercise where her clothes were cut off and she was stripped to her underwear to receive first aid.
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Officers would have to treat a “bullet hole” at the top of her left breast, the tribunal heard, which made her feel uncomfortable.
She said there had also been incidents where colleagues would draw male genitalia on noticeboards, that she had been made the “poster girl” of the unit, and forced to take part in a photo shoot when she was five months pregnant.
One fellow officer told her: “Just because you have tits does not mean you cannot do a press-up”, having pushed her neck down with his foot while she was carrying out the exercise.
Kalam described several more scenarios where she had been treated differently, including not being given an “easy trigger” handgun like her male colleagues, being expected to wear body armour designed for men and being barred from attending assessment days for aspiring firearms officers.
In a statement, Scott Green, West Midlands deputy chief constable, said: “I am sorry that more was not done sooner to address the serious issues raised by Mrs Kalam and I apologise for the significant impact that these have had on her which has been highlighted during the tribunal.”
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