How calling a woman ‘glamorous’ at work can undermine her
CALLIng a woman ‘glamorous’ at work risks ‘belittling’ them, an employment tribunal has warned.
Complimenting a female colleague in that way may be ‘inappropriate’ as it could make them seem ‘less serious and professional’, a panel concluded.
The ruling came after a beauty pageantwinning barrister sued for discrimination after her boss called her ‘glamorous’.
Jeniffer Campbell, who is black, alleged her manager Alexandra Jacobs racially discriminated against her by using the term. The tribunal rejected her racism claim but did find that using the word was potentially a breach of workplace laws.
Employment Judge Sophie Park said being called glamorous ‘could be taken as undermining or belittling the person being described’. The tribunal heard Ms Jacobs was showing a new colleague around the office and, when introducing Ms Campbell, said the lawyer and model was the ‘glamour corner’. Ms Campbell, crowned ‘Ms UK International Elite’ in 2019 at the age of 45, claimed the remark was ‘offensive’.
She sued Waltham Forest London Borough Council, where she worked as a contract lawyer, for race harassment and discrimination.
East London Employment Tribunal dismissed her case, with the judge ruling ‘we cannot see how she would understand
‘Seem less professional’
the comment as having any racial connotation’.
She joined the local authority in December 2018 and was sacked in July 2020.
One reason for her sacking was ‘long- standing issues with her performa n c e , such as client complaints’.
Ms Campbell alleged that in August 2019 Ms Jacobs told her she was ‘not vanilla enough’. But the tribunal found Ms Jacobs had only used the word ‘vanilla’ in relation to Ms Campbell’s writing, suggesting it be ‘safer and blander’.