Diet to win respect, boss told D&C police officer
DEVON and Cornwall Police has accepted that an officer made inappropriate comments about a junior colleague’s weight, leaving her feeling “humiliated”.
Barnstaple-based Detective Constable Kerry Moth – who has fibromyalgia – was told by her boss that she would earn the respect of her colleagues if she tried to lose some weight.
She was told that she needed to “take more responsibility over her diet” and that she “might feel better if she stopped drinking gallons of Coke”.
A tribunal in Exeter heard how Devon and Cornwall Police failed to make adjustments to take into account DC Moth’s disability, breached the equality act and that DC Moth was “harassed” by her boss’ comments.
A spokesperson for Devon and
Cornwall Police said after the hearing that “no officer or member of staff should feel harassed in the workplace”.
They added that the force will continue to look into the incidents ahead of a remedy hearing which will take place at a later date.
The spokesperson said: “Devon and Cornwall Police note the decision of the tribunal.
“A number of circumstances have been discussed at the hearing and we will continue to examine the findings and work with the tribunal and representatives of both parties to discuss a remedy in light of the tribunal outcome. No officer or member of staff should feel harassed in the workplace and we always expect the highest standards of ethical behaviour from all of our staff.”
DC Moth joined Devon and Cornwall Police in 2003 and suffers from fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes widespread pain and extreme tiredness.
The tribunal heard that, in July 2018, she told her boss Detective Sergeant Daryl Marvelly at Barnstaple Police Station that she was “fed up” with people assuming her weight contributed to her condition.
The hearing was told how DS Marvelly replied that losing weight might take the “strain off her body” and added that she would earn the respect of her colleagues if she tried to do so.
A report from Devon and Cornwall Police’s Occupational Health department states that, in a difficult or violent situation, DC Moth would be able to protect herself or a colleague, but she would not pass a fitness test due to her illness.
In July 2019, an “unsatisfactory performance procedure” meeting was held. During the meeting, DS Marvelly said he felt she needed to take “more responsibility over her diet and weight”.
DC Moth explained that her weight was due to medication and that her nerve endings are desensitised by pain killers so she cannot feel full when eating.
DS Marvelly replied that he didn’t dispute that, but that he often saw her drinking “gallons of Coca Cola”. The comment upset DC Moth, who said she only drinks zero-calorie coke.
Employment Judge Alastair Smail said: “[DS Marvelly] was not acting in bad faith but he did not have a basis upon which to continue to challenge the [DC Moth] along these lines. It foreseeably had and did have the effect of humiliating her.” It also brought an unprofessional tone to proceedings, the judge ruled.