A Northern Ireland woman has settled a sexual harassment case she took against Tesco, her former employer, for £45,000.
Former part-time personal shopper Lara Storey claimed she had been subjected to sexual harassment by a colleague, including physical touching.
As a result of her experience, she raised a grievance with her employer, which was upheld.
Despite this, the colleague she complained about remained in post, even though Ms Storey had been given assurances the individual would be retrained or relocated to another department or store.
Ms Storey felt this decision represented a failure to provide her with a safe working environment, as well as being in breach of Tesco’s equal opportunities policy and disciplinary code of conduct.
Feeling let down and that nothing had changed following the investigation into her grievances, Ms Storey lodged a complaint with the Office of the Industrial Tribunal.
However, after lodging her complaint she felt she was treated unfairly and victimised by more senior members of Tesco staff.
She felt she was being ignored and reported being constantly criticised for minor work issues before resigning from her job due to her experiences.
Supported by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), Ms Storey took a case against Tesco alleging sexual harassment, which was settled without an admission of liability for £45,000. Speaking about her experiences, Ms Storey said: “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. 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.”
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Geraldine McGahey is the chief commissioner at the ECNI.
“Our sex discrimination laws are almost 50 years old, and unfortunately, they are needed as much today as they did when they were first introduced.
“Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work.
“Employers must ensure that where their employees fail to live up to that standard action is taken to deal with it effectively and that employees are dealt with or supported appropriately.
“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.”
In settling the case, Tesco reaffirmed its commitment to equality of opportunity and agreed to liaise with the ECNI to review its policies, practices and procedures around harassment.
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 of workplace sexual harassment are one of the most common types of complaints made to the ECNI.
In 2022, such complaints made up 22% of sex discrimination complaints.