Woman settles Tesco sexual harassment case for £45k

A woman from Northern Ireland, has settled her claims of sexual harassment and victimisation against Tesco for £45,000.

Lara Storey, who was a Dotcom Personal Shopper for Tesco at the time, said she wants "other women to know that they don’t have to accept this type of behaviour".

She claimed that she had been sexually harassed by a colleague which included physical touching and "inappropriate messages".

The case was settled without admission of liability.

Tesco "apologised" for the way Ms Storey's "concerns were handled in this store".

Ms Storey said after raising a grievance, the colleague she complained about remained in post after "assurances were given that they would be retrained or relocated to another department or store".

"He was left to work alongside me over those months - a year, a year and a bit," she said.

Ms Storey said: “I wish none of this had ever happened.

"I was a student working my way through university - I didn’t ask for any of this.

"I had to challenge it and I’m glad I did.

"I want other women to know that they don’t have to accept this type of behaviour or treatment, and they should expect to be treated fairly by their employer.”

Ms Storey said she was offered no support or help from Tesco during the grievance period and previous assurances made about not working with the colleague involved in the complaint were not upheld.

"Any reassurance I got was continually broken (by Tesco)."

Ms Storey said she felt she had to change her own work pattern and where she worked within the store to avoid the colleague.

"I took my own initiative to remove myself from that environment and throughout the process I was told he had the same right to work in that store as I did."

Ms Storey lodged a complaint at the Office of the Industrial Tribunal, the Equality Commission said.

But after doing this, she felt that she was then "victimised and treated unfairly" by more senior staff.

"This included being ignored and constantly criticised for very minor work issues. Lara eventually resigned from her job with Tesco due to her experience," the Commission said.

Geraldine McGahey, Chief Commissioner at the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, said: “Our sex discrimination laws are almost 50 years old, and unfortunately, they are needed as much today as they did when they were first introduced.

“Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work," Ms McGahey said.

"Employers must ensure that, where their employees fail to live up to that standard, action is taken to deal with it effectively and that employees are dealt with or supported appropriately," she added.

"It is imperative therefore that employers have policies and procedures in place to manage these situations effectively and that their managers are trained to use them.”

The Equality Commission said Tesco reaffirmed its commitment to equality of opportunity and "regrets" how the events that led to these claims made Lara feel and will improve processes.

It also said the company has agreed to liaise with the Commission to review its policies, practices and procedures on harassment.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome at Tesco and there is no place for harassment of any kind in our business.

"We apologise for the way the concerns of this colleague were handled in this store and have taken some clear learnings which will help us further improve our processes going forward.

It added the policy by the Equality Commission has been shared and recommendations "welcomed" by Tesco.