DON’T LET ANYONE BELITTLE YOU
Bad behaviour happens in every workplace. It just does. Think of your own – whether you work in a school, hospital or office – and you may know a repeat offender. Perhaps it’s the reason so many of us are opting to work from home these days! But the sad truth is, most of us – myself included at times – have put up with it to avoid being blacklisted as a troublemaker.
That’s why I am always impressed by those who find the courage to call out the bad guys. Arbitration is far from the easy option – the stress of taking on an employer must be colossal. Imagine doing all that whilst pregnant or with a newborn. Well, that’s exactly what account manager Nicola Hinds did. Just recently she won her case against her former employer Mitie – a leading UK facilities management company. They were found to have ‘stereotyped’ and ‘belittled’ her as ‘an emotional and hormonal pregnant woman’. In fact, she’d been experiencing significant work-related stress. So dedicated was she, that the thought of letting anybody down was, perversely, making her even more unwell.
And then there was the case in March of barrister Jeniffer Campbell. A beauty pageant winner, yes. But a heavyweight lawyer too. She objected to being called ‘glamorous’ by her boss and a tribunal warned her former employer, Waltham Forest Borough Council, that using the term risked being belittling and could make Ms Campbell feel ‘less serious and professional’.
I can relate to that one. A previous boss shamed me for presenting the news in high heels and dresses with zips up the back. It’s a fairly standard ‘news anchor uniform’ – I had no cleavage or leg above the knee on show. Yet I was told it was too sexy. I took that to mean they thought I was tarty. Far from it, a married mother at this point, I was well researched and ready to attack any topic or guest on my show. I always say the way someone looks is the least interesting thing about them – and certainly the least relevant to my ability to seriously carry out my work. I guess the message is to never stop shining just because someone is intimidated by your light. And bravo to those who stand up for themselves.