We were asked to advise a manufacturing business. The machinery was operated largely by females. There was a junior male employee whose job was to keep the factory area clean. He was only 18 but looked much younger. He complained to his manager who worked in an office upstairs that, during breaks in the staff canteen, he was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment, culminating in the female employees removing his trousers. The manager dealt with the grievance by telling the employee he should be grateful for the attention. Unsurprisingly, the employee left and claimed sexual harassment. We acted for the company. Settlement was swiftly arrived at, and procedures and training have been put in place to avoid this happening again.
We advised a company who had a very disgruntled employee. She lodged a grievance. The grievance meeting was held and her grievance was rejected. She appealed against the decision and the appeal was rejected. She then immediately lodged another grievance and, again, appealed against that. This happened four times in succession. Partners had to cancel client meetings so they could hear grievance/appeal meetings. At the end of the final meeting, the employee was asked whether she had any further grievances. She said not but then, 2 days later, lodged a further grievance. The business asked for our help. We advised the business to ignore that grievance. She promptly resigned and claimed constructive dismissal. We acted for the company in the Tribunal claim. Her claim was rejected by the Tribunal.