A female lorry driver has been awarded £19,000 in compensation after a colleague accused her of "flashing" her breasts to get what she wanted.
Charlotte Brooks was left feeling "humiliated" after her co-worker Kerry Dawson claimed she performed sexual favours to get ahead.
Voice note and bullying claims
"Just because she’s got f****** tits she thinks she can flash them at anybody and anyone will do anything for her," Ms Dawson said in a voice note. Ms Brooks said the "bullying" continued for two years.
Co-op agreed the comments amounted to sexual harassment. Ms Dawson was fired but returned to work after she appealed against the decision and won her case. Ms Brooks was left feeling anxious and distressed when she returned to the workplace.
Tribunal details
Ms Brooks has now won £19,042 for claims of sexual harassment and direct sex discrimination after suing Co-op. An employment tribunal held in Exeter, Devon heard she started working for Co-op as an apprentice lorry driver in January 17, 2022.
Ms Dawson was an apprentice driver at the same time and later that year in July she alleged to instructors that Ms Brooks would perform sex acts to get what she wanted. She was "very upset and gutted" when she found out this comment had been made about her.
The voice note accusing her of "flashing" her breasts was received by Ms Brooks in October 2024. She submitted a grievance which sparked an investigation before it was deemed "inappropriate" by Co-op bosses.
Appeal and aftermath
During a meeting, disciplinary manager John Rowan said: "You [Ms Dawson] freely admitted during our meeting that what you did was wrong and that you had been stupid in your actions." He added that because Ms Dawson had admitted what she had done and the company's "zero-tolerance approach" that she would be sacked. Ms Dawson appealed this decision to dismiss her and it was replaced with a written warning.
Bruno Krssak, who conducted the appeal, said the decision had been "procedurally flawed". The original meeting failed to give Ms Dawson relevant information before the hearing and "hearsay evidence" was included, he claimed.
Ms Brooks was told Ms Dawson would be returning to work in January 2025 with no discussion of safeguarding arrangements for her. She became so "distressed" that she signed herself off as unfit for work due to work-related stress.
The HGV driver remained off work until February. Employment Judge Paula Volkmer asserted that Ms Dawson's comments amounted to sexual harassment. She added that the appeal process had not taken into account the seriousness of Ms Dawson's conduct and the impact on Ms Brooks.
The judge said there was a "theme of minimising the harassment of a sexual nature. I consider that if the conduct had been between members of the opposite sex, Mr Krssak would have taken it more seriously."
