‘Ball-breaking’ female lawyer wins £150,000 in sexism case

A “Ball-breaker” female lawyer who was sacked after she complained that she was being paid less than her male colleagues has won more than £150,000 in a sexism case.

Helena Biggs was warned she was in danger of scoring an “own goal” when she demanded to know why her salary was not the same as a male executive she shared an office with.

Ms Biggs, who was criticised for being “pushy”, “overambitious” and a “ballbreaker”, claimed she suffered a campaign of victimisation that ended in her dismissal after 15 years with the firm. She also said her role as an “enforcer” to tackle underperforming staff led to her being viewed as the “Wicked Witch of the West”.

The 47-year-old mother-of-two successfully sued A Bilborough and Company, a global shipping insurance firm, for sex discrimination in 2020.

Now, she has been awarded £151,811 in compensation. The tribunal heard that the solicitor, from Redhill, Surrey, was promoted to associate director at the company, where she worked as a claims executive, in 2010.

In 2013 she accidentally discovered that a similarly ranked male colleague was paid £2,000 a year more than she was, which she kept quiet about until 2015 when she raised the issue with Steve Roberts, her direct manager.

“Mr Roberts responded by telling her that she should be careful and that the issue could be ‘dangerous’,” the tribunal heard. He told the hearing that pursuing this issue could be an “own goal” for Ms Biggs and she would be better off leaving it alone.

However, she persisted and the firm agreed to give her a pay rise although it did not backdate the award.

Over the following two years, Ms Biggs claimed she was “victimised and targeted” resulting in her launching grievance proceedings. She was signed off sick and was fired in 2018.

The east London tribunal concluded that Ms Biggs had been unfairly dismissed and had been the victim of sex discrimination, victimisation and harassment as the firm “wanted her gone”.