The Daily Telegraph

Calling a man ‘bald’ is sex harassment, employment tribunal rules

- By Will Bolton and Max Stephens

INSULTING a man by calling him “bald” amounts to sex harassment, a panel of balding judges has ruled.

In a landmark judgment, an employment tribunal found that because men are more likely to lose their hair than women, using the term to describe someone is a form of discrimina­tion.

The ruling – made by a panel of three men who bemoaned their own lack of hair – came in a case between electricia­n Tony Finn and his West Yorkshireb­ased manufactur­ing firm employers.

After the hearing, Mr Finn said: “I hope my win helps to stop other men being insulted and verbally attacked because they are bald.”

Mr Finn, 64, worked for the British Bung Company for almost 24 years before he was fired last May.

After he was sacked, he took the firm to the tribunal claiming, among other things, that he had been the victim of sex harassment following an incident with a factory supervisor, Jamie King.

Mr Finn alleged that during a shop floor row in July 2019, Mr King referred to him as a “bald c---”.

The allegation resulted in the panel – comprising Judge Jonathan Brain, David Dorman-smith and Keith Lannaman – deliberati­ng on whether remarking on his baldness was simply insulting or actually harassment.

“Mr King crossed the line by making remarks personal to the claimant about his appearance,” the panel said.

A lawyer for the company argued that both men and women can be bald, but the panel said: “As all three members of the tribunal will vouchsafe, baldness is much more prevalent in men than women. We find it to be inherently related to sex.”

The tribunal heard that after the confrontat­ion Mr Finn had written a statement about the incident with his son Robert, who was a police officer, on official West Yorkshire Police paper. Mr Finn said it was not his intention to make the statement appear like an official police document, but the firm accused him of attempted intimidati­on and fired him for misconduct.

The tribunal upheld Mr Finn’s claims of unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, being subjected to detriments and sex harassment. His compensati­on will be determined at a later date.

The British Bung Company said it was “surprised” by the tribunal’s comments.

 ?? ?? Tony Finn said he hoped his win would ‘stop other men being insulted and verbally attacked’
Tony Finn said he hoped his win would ‘stop other men being insulted and verbally attacked’

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