£151,000 for lawyer labelled Wicked Witch of the West by men in her office
A LAWYER sacked after complaining about being paid less than a male colleague has won £151,000 in compensation.
Helena Biggs was warned she was in danger of scoring an ‘own goal’ when she asked why her salary was not the same as the male executive she shared an office with.
Miss Biggs – who was criticised for being ‘pushy’, a ‘ball-breaker’ and over-ambitious – said she suffered a ‘campaign of victimisation’ that ended in her dismissal due to her complaint. A tribunal heard the firm used her to tackle under-performing staff, which led to the mother-of-two being viewed in the office as the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’.
The 47-year-old successfully sued international shipping insurance firm A Bilborough and Company for sex discrimination in 2020. A remedy hearing has now taken place at the East London Tribunal Hearing Centre to decide the compensation award of £151,811.
As part of her case, Miss Biggs said she had witnessed repeated sexist behaviour from male bosses at the firm she joined in 2004.
The tribunal panel was told that when Miss Biggs told claims director Ian Barr she was pregnant, he ‘had gone to another female adjuster... and told her to “keep her legs shut”.’ A second director, Steve Roberts, Miss Biggs’ line manager, described her as ‘pushy’ and told her to ‘use her charms’ on him in a discussion about a project.
The tribunal heard Miss Biggs was promoted to associate director in 2010. But in 2013, she learned that a similarly ranked male colleague was paid £2,000 a year more than she was. She did not mention this with Mr Roberts until 2015.
When she did, he allegedly told her pursuing the issue could be an ‘own goal’ for Miss Biggs, from Redhill, Surrey. She persisted and the firm gave her a pay rise.
But she claimed she was then ‘victimised’ as she was unfairly criticised and lost out on promotions.
There was later a discussion about whether Miss Biggs – who had been signed off sick – should return to work. The firm said her relationship with her colleagues had broken down and she was sacked in 2018.
But the tribunal found Miss Biggs had been unfairly dismissed and was the victim of sex discrimination, victimisation and harassment. The panel said her bosses sacked her as ‘she had challenged their authority’.