A part-time employee of Tesco has paid £45,000 to resolve a discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, reports RTE.
Lara Storey said that a co-worker had physically touched her and engaged in sexual harassment.
Her grievance was upheld when she protested to her managers.
Nevertheless, despite promises of relocation or retraining, the co-worker was permitted to stay in their position, reports RTE.
The Office of the Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland received a complaint from Ms. Storey, who felt that this judgement violated her employer’s disciplinary policy.
She said that after doing this, she felt victimised by higher-ranking employees, who disregarded her and chastised her for trivial work-related concerns.
“I wish none of this had ever happened. I was a student working my way through university. I didn’t ask for any of this. I had to challenge it and I’m glad I did,” she said, reports RTE.
“I want other women to know that they don’t have to accept this type of behaviour or treatment, and they should expect to be treated fairly by their employer,” reports RTE.
Liability was not acknowledged in the settlement of the lawsuit.
The Northern Ireland Equality Commission provided help to Ms. Storey.
Northern Ireland’s sex discrimination rules are just as important now as they were fifty years ago, according to Chief Commissioner Geraldine McGahey.
“Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work,” reports RTE.
She added: “It is imperative therefore that employers have policies and procedures in place to manage these situations effectively and that their managers are trained to use them.”
A Tesco Spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome at Tesco and there is no place for harassment of any kind in our business. We apologise for the way the concerns of this colleague were handled in this store and have taken some clear learnings which will help us further improve our processes going forward. We shared our policy with the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland and welcomed their recommendations,” reports Breaking News.
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