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Recently, Deanne Kingson has been awarded almost £400,000 after being pestered for sex and asked to arrange orgies by diplomats at the Qatari embassy in London, following an employment tribunal. She was targetted by senior staff because she was not a Muslim and was seen as being ‘liable or willing to engage in sexual conduct with male employees’.
The Case
Deanne Kingson, 58, worked as a personal assistant at the Qatari embassy in London between 2006 and 2014. Following her termination of employment, she made a claim for sex and religion or belief discrimination against the Qatari government after she was exposed to repeated discrimination and harassment for the entirety of her employment.
The executive ambassador Fahed Al-Mushairi, was very desperate to take Mrs Kingson to bed, making ‘persistent’ sexual advances towards her, including making humiliating and degrading sexual suggestions – the tribunal was told. When she rejected his advances he turned his attention to her daughter who was then 19. She also claimed that an ambassador repeatedly invited her to a suite to chew the stimulant Qat, later made illegal.
Kingston spent years turning down diplomats’ advances and was repeatedly threatened with the sack before eventually being fired without holiday pay in June 2014. Before this point, she felt she was unable to leave her job, causing her to become mentally ill and suffering from suffered sleepless nights, a loss of appetite and was ultimately diagnosed with clinical depression.
During the court proceedings, Kingson maintained that she was targeted for not being a Muslim. With male employees, she was seen as being liable or willing to engage in sexual conduct.
Judge Gill Brown awarded Mrs Kingson more than £115,000 for injury to feelings and psychiatric distress, after accepting that she had felt fear, humiliation and shame throughout her eight years’ service. She awarded Ms Kingson £390,000 in total – including £173,000 for loss of earnings and £1,250 for missing holiday pay. The Qatari diplomatic service was not represented at the tribunal and did not take any part in the proceedings.
What is discrimination?
The Equality Act 2010 (EA) is the key piece of legislation which relates to discrimination at work, providing employees with protection for every section of UK employment. Protection is available to a worker if they suffer unfavourable treatment based on them having a ‘protected characteristic’ – including both gender and religion, demonstrated in the Deanne Kingson case.
If you are looking to make a discrimination claim, the Nationwide Employment Lawyers website is the place you need to be. We understand how stressful and time-consuming it can be dealing with an employment law issue or a sex discrimination in the workplace claim, which is why our team of in-house advocates would be more than happy to help you. We provide a very high-quality service and focus on your results rather than billing targets, and never compromise on quality.
For more information, please get in touch with us using the details provided, either give us a call on 020 8263 6080 or fill in the contact form on our website. Include all your relevant information and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
