A WORKER’S STORY
My male manager began mocking me, ridiculing me in front of staff and customers
Karen Murray suffered a breakdown after her manager relentlessly ridiculed her over the debilitating symptoms of menopause.
But after fighting for two years before being awarded almost £30,000 in one of the few successful cases in the country, she was told she would only receive a fraction of the award after her employer, Bonmarche, had gone into administration days after the judgment.
Murray, 60, who fought the case with no help other than support from her best friend, said: “It was a sickening blow after everything I’d been put through.
“I’ve still not received a penny but feel vindicated that I won my case and I hope it gives others the courage to take a stand.”
She had spent almost four decades working in clothes shops in Dundee, spending 11 years at Evans before becoming a supervisor at Bonmarche in 2006.
She said: “I absolutely loved my job and my customers, and was so good at my job I repeatedly made the highest number of sales.
“I was promoted to supervisor at Bonmarche. I’d been in retail my whole working life and had customers coming back time and again because I always used to take care to give them the best service.
“I’d never had any issues at work, and was always conscientious and got on well with everyone.
“Everything changed almost five years ago when I began suffering terrible sweats because of the menopause. Suddenly, my male manager began mocking me and making jokes, calling me a dinosaur and ridiculing me in front of other staff and customers.
“I felt sick to my stomach. I was repeatedly humiliated and made to feel extremely uncomfortable.”
She asked on a number of occasions for a fan to help her cool down when she suffered drenching sweats but, she told the tribunal, the shop manager refused to adjust the temperature.
She claimed he laughed at her and mocked her in front of younger female staff. She left and suffered a breakdown because she was so upset. Tribunal judge Ian Mcfatridge stated he had no doubt that the Bonmarche shop manager was “guilty of harassing the claimant.”
He said: “It was quite clear from the claimant’s evidence that she felt he had created a hostile environment for her and that this was related to her status as a woman going through the menopause.
“I consider this to amount to unlawful harassment on grounds of age and sex.”
He ruled Karen resigned as a result of the discrimination against her and stated: “She had become mentally unwell as a result of her manager’s treatment of her and she believed that this treatment could continue.”
Karen’s friend Carol Anne Curran represented her. She said: “I was outraged that this hard-working woman had been treated so abominably.
“What kind of man refuses to adjust the temperature when he sees a woman suffering and sweating the way Karen was?
“It was beyond inhumane. I was determined my friend deserved justice for how she had been treated.
“We were delighted when Karen was awarded almost £30,000 because we recognised the significance of winning one of Scotland’s very first menopause cases.
“It was devastating that days after the judgment in December 2019, Bonmarche went into administration.
“Despite the court award, Karen has been told she will be lucky to get a penny or two in the pound.
“I believe it’s time for women to no longer feel ashamed about menopause. Why should there be a stigma? Unless we all speak up nothing will ever change for the better.”
Today, Karen has found a new job in a charity chop where she says she is treated well and with respect.
She said: “When I see the difference of how well I’m treated by my new employers who are so caring and supportive it’s a joy to go to work, it only amplifies how dreadfully I was treated.
“I sincerely hope other women will take courage from my story and speak out so things change for the better for all of us.”
Bonmarche has since been bought out of receivership by new owners.