Sacked BP surveyor was told: ‘Women aren’t funny’

A BP employee who was made redundant after her boss allegedly told her “women simply aren’t funny” is suing for sexual discrimination.

Kathryn Buttle, 38, a former surveyor at the global energy company, claims she was told that, because she was a woman, having a sense of humour was not an asset.

She was made redundant from the company in March last year and has launched a legal action claiming unfair dismissal, sexual discrimination and public interest disclosure.

She claims there was an environment of bullying led by the men and their poor treatment left her unable to do her job properly.

Miss Buttle alleges that, when she went to her female boss Herlinde Mannaerts-Drew, she was told some members of the organisation “did not appreciate my personality”.

Miss Buttle said she was told “because I was a woman I should conceal my sense of humour” in a one-onone meeting on February 11 last year.

She told an employment tribunal in Reading, Berks, that Miss MannaertsDrew said she was a good surveyor but needed “tweaking”.

She added: “The words she used were that I was a ‘very direct person who could be blunt and to the point’.”

And she claimed: “She told me that ‘humour is a great tool to have in the Kathryn Buttle and, right, BP’s office in Sunbury-on-Thames where she worked toolbox, but only if you are a man’. She said to me that ‘women simply aren’t funny’. I was truly shocked by being told that if I was a man I would fit into the organisation but, as I was not, I did not. The fact that she told me that ‘others’ did not appreciate my personality again served to explain the way that I had been treated.”

She also claimed manager Stephen Moore and other male employees “bullied me and generally treated me very badly” while working at an office in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, in 2013.

Miss Mannaerts-Drew said she was “shocked” to learn Miss Buttle was accusing her of sexual discrimination in relation to the conversation, which she said had taken place at an informal meeting in a coffee shop.

She denied saying you need to be a man in order to succeed at BP and added: “I found it hurtful that a very personal conversation which was intended to help and support Kat has been used against me in this way. I do not recall exactly how it came up but Kat asked a question about why strong women were seen in a negative way but men who had very direct communication styles were applauded.

“Kat became very upset and tearful during the discussion and I tried to support her and coach her by sharing my own experiences.”

The tribunal continues.