Beauty therapist wins £3k compensation from biscuit-biting boss

Monday 30 April 2018

A beauty salon has been ordered to pay over £3,000 compensation to a therapist after a tribunal ruled the owner had repeatedly harassed her with sexual jokes and inappropriate touching – including straddling her and taking a bite of her biscuit.

Mr A Marolia, Director and Manager of Fabriah Hair and Beauty Salon, came before the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal, accused of creating a work environment so uncomfortable that one employee felt the need to leave her job in September 2017 – after little more than a year in the role. He denied all the claims.

Chairman Hilary Griffin heard allegations that Mr Marolia would hug the therapist from behind “body to body”, pinch her buttocks as she carried towels to the laundry area, and took a photo of her cleavage at the Christmas meal.

But she said the “last straw” was one break-time when she was eating a biscuit by a treatment room window. Mr Marolia was said to have commented that she was “sneaking in cookies”, before putting his legs either side of hers, placing his hand on her chest, and taking a bite of her snack. 

She said that the alleged incident made her feel “intimidated” and “shocked” and prompted her to immediately search for a new job.

The beauty professional – described as a “friendly, bubbly person – added that she stopped engaging in his “banter” in the following weeks, no longer laughing at his jokes and avoiding him “at all costs.”

This, she said, led to confrontational “bullying behaviour” from Mr Marolia, who began questioning her forthcoming holidays and “putting pressure on her” to make contractual payment changes. She added that it was a “constant battle” to correct frequent errors made in calculating her wages and holiday pay. 

Mr Marolia strongly denied the claims, stating that his accuser was simply trying to “extract money from him.”

He said that his banter, which he denied was sexist, created a “relaxed family atmosphere” and that “because he employed lots of women, it was essential that he provided plenty of biscuits.” He added that clients would have stopped visiting if the allegations were true.

But another staff member reported similar treatment. She reported that Mr Marolia locked her in a room, undid her tunic and placed his hand on her chest for around 30 seconds, when she had hiccups. Mr Marolia said he couldn’t remember locking the door, but claimed that he knew how to cure hiccups because he was a former nurse. 

She also described how Mr Marolia would comment on employees’ private lives and breast sizes. He refuted making such comments – but did, in fact, refer to both the breasts and private life of the therapist at the centre of the claim in his witness statement.

The claimant explained that she wished she had been strong enough to report his behaviour, but feared “looking stupid” in front of the police, and did not feel comfortable filing a complaint.

The Tribunal found against Mr Marolia, concluding that he was an “insincere” witness, and believed a “happy and relaxed atmosphere meant that he could touch and foist himself upon his employees at will.”

Chairman Griffin added that “the straddling Incident was evidence of [Marolia] seeking to dominate the Claimant. 

“His behaviour would be unacceptable in any circumstance, but was all the worse because of his duties as an employer… I noted [Marolia’s] submission that he wanted a relaxed family atmosphere for the clients but it is perfectly possible to create such an atmosphere without harassing employees,” she concluded. 

The therapist was subsequently awarded £3,250.88 – £2,736 in unfair dismissal pay and £514.88 in unauthorised wage deductions.