Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Sexual harassmentLatest NewsDismissalEmployment tribunalsUnfair dismissal

Former British Council official wins unfair dismissal claim

by Jo Faragher 12 Jan 2022
by Jo Faragher 12 Jan 2022 rafapress / Shutterstock.com
rafapress / Shutterstock.com

A senior British Council official has won his unfair dismissal case over claims he groped a female embassy worker at a party in Italy.

Paul Sellers, who was head of the British Council in Italy, was accused of drunkenly kissing the staff member on the lips and “stroking” her breasts with both hands as she left a Christmas party hosted at his flat in Rome.

Sellers argued that he had done no more than give her a kiss on both cheeks in the traditional Italian greeting or farewell, known as “saluto”. He also reported that his wife and children were next to him at the time.

The female employee, who is referred to as “ZZ” in the judgment, complained of sexual harassment and so followed an investigation into his conduct, which ultimately ended in him being dismissed from the British Council in May 2019.

The employment tribunal concluded that the investigation was severely flawed, however. There were instances where evidence was ignored, including six witness accounts suggesting that the alleged incident had not occurred.

Harassment policies

Policy on investigating claims of bullying and harassment

Policy on work-related social events 

The tribunal heard that Kate Ewart-Biggs, deputy chief executive of the British Council and the person heading the investigation, had taken a “narrow view” of the incident based on ZZ’s account rather than the full circumstances surrounding it.

Ewart-Biggs told the tribunal that she found the allegation to be true, and she was “satisfied that an appropriate investigation had been conducted”, and that the “complainant’s evidence was credible and consistent”. In this context, the appropriate sanction was dismissal, she added.

Sellers appealed the decision, which was followed up with a further investigation. The tribunal concluded that in this follow-up “there appeared to be little attempt to clarify exactly where the incident took place”, or to investigate why text messages sent by ZZ to friends following the alleged incident did not refer to the sexual assault.

The appeal was not upheld and the dismissal maintained. Further evidence submitted later in 2019 said there was “limited physical contact” between ZZ and Sellers and confirmed it had taken place in the view of a number of other guests. Requests for a further appeal were turned down.

In his conclusion, Employment Judge Hodgson said “this is a misconduct case where the conduct in question is disputed”, and referred to numerous flaws into how the allegations were investigated and evidence collected.

“In this case, the investigation is characterised by serious oversights and unreasonable assumptions. No reasonable employer would have failed to seek the relevant contemporaneous documentation, or to explore the circumstances of the alleged assault, or to seek relevant evidence from witnesses to the alleged incident,” he added.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sellers’ unfair dismissal claim was upheld, and a remedy hearing will follow. The British Council has been approached for comment.

Employee relations opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more Employee Relations jobs

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Employers not tapping into remote workers’ ‘wealth of experience’
next post
Union urges government to reverse fit note relaxation

You may also like

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Union rep teacher awarded £370k for unfair dismissal

15 May 2025

Tribunal finds need for degree in redundancy selection...

14 May 2025

NHS worker awarded £29k after Darth Vader comparison

8 May 2025

Employment tribunal backlog up 23% in a year

7 May 2025

Lincolnshire doctor awarded £250k in race discrimination case

2 May 2025

Top 10 HR questions April 2025: increases to...

2 May 2025

M&S unfairly dismissed pregnant bakery worker

29 Apr 2025

Recruiter who returned to empty office after maternity...

23 Apr 2025

Accountant wins maximum payout for unfair dismissal

14 Apr 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+