Can derogatory comments made to a colleague referring to their baldness land you in hot water?
Don’t tolerate foul or abusive language in the workplace.
Can derogatory comments made to a colleague referring to their baldness land you in hot water?
The short answer is yes!
The High Court has ruled that calling a man bald amounts to harassment on the ground of his sex as decided in Mr A Finn v The British Bung Manufacturing Company Limited (Case No: EA-2022-000402-OO).
Mr Finn was employed by the British Bung Manufacturing Company Limited as an Electrician from
1997 until May 2021, when he was dismissed from his employment without notice.
Prior to his dismissal in July 2019 Mr Finn got into a dispute with one of his colleagues, Mr King during which Mr King called Mr Finn a “bald ****” followed by violent threats towards him. It was alleged that 2 months later Mr Finn had falsely informed Mr King that he had reported the incident to the police. Upon learning of the alleged report, the Respondent took the decision to dismiss Mr Finn on the grounds of gross misconduct.
Mr Finn brought claims to the Employment Tribunal on the grounds that he had been harassed in relation to his sex, and unfairly and wrongfully dismissed. His claims were successful..
The Employment Tribunal ruled that when Mr King referred to Mr Finn as a “bald ****”, his conduct had the intention of violating Mr Finn’s dignity and creating a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The legal test for harassment had therefore been satisfied.
The Respondentappealed the decision citing that the decision made in 2022 was incorrect and that discrimination law had been too broadly interpreted by ruling, there being an insufficient link between the word “bald” and Mr Finn’s gender.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the original Employment Tribunal decision finding that whilst woman may also suffer hair loss, baldness is more prevalent in men and therefore the person on the receiving end of the comment more likely to be male therefore establishing the necessary causal link between the harassment and Mr Finn’s gender.
Our views
The derogatory comments are clearly capable of causing offence. This case serves as a welcome reminder of the need for the conduct to be linked to the protected characteristic to be unlawful under the Equality Act.
If you are reading this article and need advice regarding any of the above topics, we have a team of highly experienced solicitors at Lawson West who can talk through the options to enable you to make the right decisions for you.
Please contact us on telephone 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480, alternatively fill in the free Contact Us form and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
View all
