Tony Finn asked for money to be paid to him as compensation, as he had worked for a manufacturing company in West Yorkshire for 24 years.
The tribunal’s decision suggests that talking about a man’s baldness at work is the same as talking about a woman’s breast size.
An employment tribunal determined that calling a man “bald” constitutes sex-related harassment.
Hair loss is significantly more common in men than in women. Thus using it to characterize someone is sexist, according to a court ruling. The results imply that mentioning a man’s baldness in the workplace is equal to saying a woman’s breast size.
The decision was reached by a panel of three men who lamented their own lack of hair when rendering their verdict concerning a dispute between a veteran electrician and the manufacturing company where he formerly worked.
Tony Finn, eligible for compensation, had over 24 years of service with the West Yorkshire-based British Bung Company before being let off in May last year. After he got into a fight with the factory supervisor, Jamie King, he sued the company, saying, among other things, that he had been harassed sexually.
Finn said King called him a “bald cunt” during a shop floor argument in July 2019. According to the tribunal, Finn was more offended by the remark about his appearance than by the “Anglo-Saxon” language.
Due to the claim, the panel, which was presided over by Judge Jonathan Brain, debated whether making fun of his baldness was disrespectful or harassment.
The panel said, “We have little doubt that being addressed in this derogatory manner was undesired conduct as far as [Finn] was concerned.” This language is harsh. Even though, as we see, industrial language was frequent on this West Yorkshire manufacturing floor, Mr. King overstepped the mark by commenting personally on the claimant’s appearance.
The panel noted that Finn had not objected to “industrial terminology” but had been particularly offended by the term “bald.”
The court decided that it was hard to believe that Mr. King didn’t say those things to hurt Finn’s pride and put him in a hostile, scary, demeaning, humiliating, or insulting environment.
Of his own admission, Mr. King intended to offend and threaten [Finn]. According to our assessment, there is a connection between the term “bald” and the sexual orientation that is a protected feature.
“[The company’s attorney] was correct to argue that women and men can both go bald. Baldness is significantly more common in men than in women, as all three tribunal members will attest. We believe it to be inextricably linked to sex.
To counter the firm’s argument, the panel cited a recent tribunal case in which a man was judged to have sexually harassed a lady by making sexist remarks about the size of her breasts. According to the tribunal, “a person on the receiving end of a comment like that which was uttered in [that] case would be female in a significantly greater proportion.”
The likelihood of a male being the target of a comment like that made by Mr. King is also substantially higher. The tribunal determined that Mr. King’s conduct was unwanted, violated the claimant’s dignity, created an intimidating environment for him, was done for that purpose, and was related to the claimant’s sex. Mr. King commented on hurting the claimant by commenting on his appearance, which is often found among men.
The amount of Finn’s compensation will be decided later.
If you are suffering hair loss for whatever reason, consider wearing realistic-looking men’s hair systems. That will give you a boost of confidence. As one of the most reputable men’s hair pieces manufacturers, New Times Hair offers the top-notch hair replacement systems on the market, their wholesale prices start at three units. Click to save big today.