A shop assistant is claiming sex discrimination after a 68-year-old colleague allegedly slapped her bottom three times while working at the flagship John Lewis department store.Shocking!
Bianca Revrenna, 40, says Konstantinos Kalomoiris tapped her bottom in the locker room and twice on the shop floor of the Oxford Street shop.
Furniture department worker Ms Revrenna, who says she quit her job as a result, told an employment tribunal that when she told him to stop, he replied: "I do that to all the girls."
Ms Revrenna, who had worked at the store since 2006, complained to her manager after the third incident last April. She says she made a formal grievance against Mr Kalomoiris, but brought her claim to the London Central employment tribunal after colleagues laughed at her and said she was "too sensitive".Outrageous!
Ms Revrenna added: "Every time he did it he would pause for a couple of seconds like he was savouring it."Disgusting!
After the third alleged incident on the shop floor in April last year, she complained to her superiors.
"My manager said I should be delighted that a colleague liked me enough to slap my bum. She said if a man slapped her bottom, she would not be offended at all," he said.
Lawyers for John Lewis said Mr Kalomoiris had an "unblemished" record after working in the store for 40 years. He claims to have only ever touched Ms Revrenna's lower back in reassurance after a customer complained about her.
The tribunal also heard Mr Kalomoiris was stressed at the time of the alleged touchings because of family illness.
This cannot stand, sisters!
Sisters..?
Umm…
You may find that the circumstances of this claim are not exactly as I have reported them.
Which may explain the lack of outrage in the usual quarters. Or may not…
Post of the week, cracking!
ReplyDeleteXX she complained to her superiors.X
ReplyDeleteObviously a woman with a low opinion of herself.
NO bastard on this EARTH is "superior" to me.
XX The tribunal heard Ms Revrenna XX
ReplyDelete"Ms"?
Aha. A dyke as well.
Classic post Julia!
ReplyDeleteThe usual double standards at work(pun intended).
ReplyDeleteNice job Julia.
Wonder if the lady in question was going "Young Man!!" everytime she patted the gentleman's bottom?
ReplyDeleteShe's 68 & still a "Mzzz" .. ask yerself a question ..
ReplyDeleteAnd He sounds like a right "Herbert" ..
"Fined one hundred pounds each, for wasting public time .. NEXT" !!
Ah, but did you see the "Voting reformer gets the sack for 'anti-Islam tweet'" story in the same paper ?
ReplyDeleteMore thought crime :
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23919766-voting-reformer-gets-the-sack-for-anti-islam-tweet.do
And Khalid Mahmood's quote is a doozy.
Naughty....
ReplyDeleteThis is how we get the tick-box nation.
ReplyDelete1) Have you explained the 'no touching' rule to the employee,
y/n
2) Have you stressed that this does not apply to situations where body contact may be needed to avoid an accident
y/n
3) Have you made the employee aware they may need to explain their decision to touch to an enquiry tribunal and should therefore make notes after all incidents of touching?
y/n
4) Have you provided the employee with a notebook and a standard form for incidents of touching which formalize the recording of such data, which includes date, time, personnel involved, circumstances and outcome of such incidents, whether they are the touchee or the toucher.
y/n
5) Have you reminded the employee to get any records witnessed at the time, whether or not the witness agrees with the data therein. (Note: see supplementary for formal warning of employees that signing a witness form is a method of date-stamping rather than an endorsement of the noted account).
y/n
6) Have you recorded the issue of the notebook which records touching incidents?
y/n
7) Have you explained this procedure to the employee and drawn their attention to the summary at the front of the book, including where to report the touching incidents (whether they are the touchee or the toucher).
y/n
8) Have you filed this form to show that the company is touching-compliant in the event of a claim against the company for negligence in this matter.
y/n
"Ah, but did you see the "Voting reformer gets the sack for 'anti-Islam tweet'" story in the same paper ?"
ReplyDeleteOh, good grief!
"Naughty...."
But thought provoking... :)
"This is how we get the tick-box nation."
Spot on!
IO thought it sounded strange. It was a woman tapping a bloke's botty as I recall.
ReplyDelete