Female branded a ‘ballbreaker’ wins huge payout – Biggs v A Bilbrough

Helena Biggs joined Bilbrough & Company in 2004 as a shipping insurance handler. After telling her boss that she was pregnant in 2006, he instructed another female adjuster to “keep her legs shut”. About the same time, he also made a ‘lesbian’ reference about a female client, implying that this was the reason Biggs had been ‘befriended’ and invited out for client drinks.

Biggs was promoted to associate director along with a male colleague in 2010. She was denied the opportunity to work with a particularly high-profile client because she ‘was a woman’. Her boss told her that the client had sexist views and they were not prepared to force the client to work with her.

The tribunal also heard that Biggs was called “pushy”, “overambitious” and a “ballbreaker” by male co-workers and it was noted that her employer also referred to her as “the enforcer” and “the wicked witch of the west” when dealing with employees who were underperforming. One manager told Biggs to ‘use her charm’ to win over a new client. Other findings were that it ‘was more than likely’ she was dissuaded from joining an all-male subcommittee. Biggs requests to work from home were denied on the basis that HR said this would “set a precedent” while male colleagues had similar requests approved.

The tribunal also found that Bilbrough failed to seriously respond to Biggs complaint that a male solicitor had groped her during a client lunch meeting.

A four-year review of Biggs’ pay found that she had been paid £2000 less than a male colleague doing the same work, despite being burdened with more demanding and higher volumes of work by her employer. As a result of raising this issue formally, she was finally paid equally to her male colleague but was denied back pay.

Biggs finally raised a grievance with her employer regarding her treatment during her service with Bilbrough. Her employer largely dismissed her concerns and concluded that her relationship with the director and other staff had deteriorated and reached a breaking point. Because of this, her employer terminated her employment.

Tribunal findings

As a result of Biggs’ protected characteristics, the tribunal ruled that her dismissal was unfair. Her sex discrimination claims were upheld despite much debate over their timeliness.

The judge ruled that references to her being “overly dominant” and “incredibly ambitious” by bosses were negative statements about her drive and hard work, which were not judgements that would normally be made of a man.

Biggs was awarded a total of £151,811 with £53,840 of the total compensation being awarded for injury to feelings.

Learning for employers

• Provide training for leadership, managers and employees on the following:
• Equality and diversity
•  Dignity at work
• Unconscious bias
• Provide a psychologically safe workplace where it is ok to call out and stop poor behaviour
• Ensure flexible working policies are in place and apply these consistently to all
• Ensure you have a good mix of attendees on internal committees, groups and boards, considering all protected characteristics
• If an employee raises a complaint regarding conduct at a client / external event, ensure this is passed on to be investigated and signposted for support
• Address any discrepancies in equal pay and ensure any backpay is also addressed
• No longer assume that complaints raised over a sustained period of many years will be considered “out of time”
• Ensure that there are no repercussions following an employee raising a grievance – this can lead to a claim of ‘victimisation’. The only exception to the rule is when the claim is found to be vicarious or raised in bad faith.

Please contact your SSG HR consultant if you need further advice or would like further information on upcoming training.

Source: Nicola Harding