Bullying behaviour towards an older trainee at the DWP was direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of age.
Facts
Ms Anne Giwa-Amu was appointed as Administrative Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). She, along with the other newly appointed officers, started her induction training week on 13 February 2017. At the age of 55, she was the only trainee over the age of 50.
Ms Giwa-Amu complained about her treatment by two of her fellow trainees. This included being accused of stealing ice-cream, deliberately spraying body spray, spinning a chair next to her, making signals behind her back, one trainee telling the group he had touched her bum, and commenting “if she comes back” when another trainee said “see you Monday”. She also complained that her confidence was breached when she raised bullying. She had complained to her training leader that she was being bullied. The leader then spoke to one of the alleged bullies about this despite Ms Giwa-Amu having stated she didn’t want this to happen, and the leader also spoke to the other trainees making it obvious that Ms Giwa-Amu had made a complaint.
Decision
The Tribunal found that there was clear evidence of discrimination which had led to a hostile environment for Ms Giwa-Amu in the workplace. The alleged incidents were found to be harassment related to age, as they were unwanted conduct which violated her dignity. In some cases, the trainees were also acting with the intention of creating a hostile environment for her. This behaviour was directed at the only trainee who was obviously in a different age group, and DWP was unable to provide an explanation for this treatment that demonstrates it was in no way whatsoever related to her age. Some of the incidents were also found to be direct age discrimination.
The Tribunal ordered DWP to pay Ms Giwa-Amu compensation of around £234,000 net, including £42,800 for injury to feelings. The size of the award was partly due to the fact there had also been race discrimination/harassment, and partly due to loss of pension rights. The Tribunal also made various recommendations, including a letter of apology and a requirement that DWP should implement effective diversity awareness training.
The judgment is available here.
Ms Anne Giwa Amu v Department for Work and Pensions, case number 1600465/2017, 20 December 2018