Chef’s £80k after boss sang Victoria Wood song at him
THE head chef of a country hotel has won nearly £80,000 after he was sexually harassed by his boss who sang aVictoriaWood number at him in a suggestive way.
General manager Andrew Wilson serenaded Sam Nunns with The Ballad Of Barry And Freda about a woman propositioning her introverted husband for sex, an employment tribunal heard.
Mr Wilson also made a series of “disconcerting” gestures at the chef as he emphasised the lyric: “Let’s do it.”
Mr Nunns said on other occasions his boss touched his thigh and bottom and lingered while hugging him at the £170-a-night 19th-century retreat.
MrWilson also referred to a cucumber and faked an orgasm while eating the chef’s food. Mr Nunns resigned in 2022 after a “string” of incidents during his 10 months at the job and decided to sue. Employment Judge Phil Allen, sitting in Manchester, ruled several of the incidents at Windermere Manor Hotel in Cumbria’s Lake District – including the one with the cucumber – did not constitute harassment.
But he found the song had violated Mr Nunn’s dignity and was humiliating. As a result, he said, Mr Wilson’s actions, which included repeated touching, massaging Mr Nunns’ shoulders and saying he loved him, amounted to unwanted sexual conduct.
He awarded Mr Nunns £79,119 in compensation.
Mr Nunns told the hearing: “He repeatedly attempted to make eye contact with me and made disconcerting gestures towards me, particularly when singing the repeated words, ‘Let’s do it’.”
Mr Wilson admitted he sang the song, but said it was becauseVictoria Wood came up in conversation and the chef had not heard it.
Judge Allen said: “It was clear that the song being sung to him in that way, with the relevant emphasis, had the effect of violating the claimant’s dignity and creating a degrading, humiliating and offensive environment for him.”
Bafta-winning Victoria died from cancer in 2016, aged 62.