A tribunal ruled that asking a woman about her motivation to work is inherently sexist because no questions of this nature would be asked if the candidate was a man.
Audrey Pereira, who was a former assistant salesperson at Wellington Antiques, Windsor, had successfully sued John Wellington for sex abuse and other claims related to employment.
Kate Annand, an employment judge, found that Wellington’s questions were based on his belief that men earn the most and that he would not have “even thought” of asking a male candidate that same question.
The tribunal found that Pereira felt she was forced to justify her work desire by the way the questions were asked, even though it wasn’t the only problem throughout her employment.
Employment dispute about pay and treatment
Pereira started working at Wellington Antiques on October 20, 2021. The tribunal heard how, during a conversation about her bank information, Wellington asked her personal questions about faith and her husband. Pereira and Wellington had a discussion about her employment terms in December of the same year. She told the tribunal later that Wellington had dismissed the difficulties she faced due to her ethnicity and age in finding work.
Pereira raised concerns regarding unpaid wages. She wasn’t paid until March 20, 2022, and received irregular payments. She was paid less than what she was due in one case, receiving only PS 1,300. She was denied a PS2,000 bonus despite exceeding her sales target.
Pereira confronted Wellington in July 2022 about her unpaid sales commission. She was accused of claiming the sales of others. Pereira wrote to Wellington two weeks later. She said that although she had done her best to help the shop, she was treated as “the dirt on his shoes”.
Pereira filed a formal complaint in October after not being paid for three consecutive months. She was placed on paid garden leave in January 2023; by March she believed that she’d been dismissed.
Legal perspective on tribunal findings
The tribunal found that Wellington’s questioning about Pereira’s motives for working was sex harassing. Pereira received PS56,022.34 as compensation for sex harassing, unpaid wages and wrongful dismissal, along with two counts of victimisation. Her claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination as well as sexism were rejected.
Martin Williams, a partner at Mayo Wynne Baxter and the head of employment, made a comment on this case. He stated that “the employment relationship should always be fair.” It is important to not exploit the power imbalance between employee and employer. In this instance, the comments made undermined the reason why an employee was seeking employment.
“An employee shouldn’t be treated as a joke. “Dirt in a shoe” seems to be a good way to describe the situation. Even if an employer views employment only as a transaction, they should at least complete the transaction. Follow the example of the respondent to this case if you want to learn how to not be a decent employee.
