Cruel firemen made woman’s life a misery
Friday 31 March 1995 23:02
BY BARRIE CLEMENT
Labour Editor: Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cruel-firemen-made-woman-s-life-a-misery-1613655.html
Clement, B. (1995). Cruel firemen made woman’s life a misery. Independent.
A fire brigade and named officers should bear an “individual and collective shame” for the cruelty meted out to a female firefighter, according to an industrial tribunal ruling yesterday.
The life of Tanya Clayton, one of the first two women members of the Hereford and Worcester brigade, was made a misery, and her personality and self-confidence were totally destroyed as a result of the daily sexual discrimination she encountered, the tribunal found.
Ms Clayton, 29, who is married with two stepsons, has since become a patient in a psychiatric ward suffering from clinical depression which, according to medical evidence, was 90 to 95 per cent due to her experiences in the workplace.
After joining the brigade in 1989, she was subjected to verbal aggression, intimidation and hostility at the hands of sub officers Ronald East and Gordon Perkins and others, the judgment said.
In her evidence, Ms Clayton told the tribunal: “I have no confidence as a result of East and Perkins. It has affected nearly every aspect of my life. My whole personality has changed. I used to be outgoing and a strong person. I am not any more. I just want to run away and hide. It has affected my home life, my marriage, my children. When I am with the kids, I have no tolerance and no patience. I feel bitterness, anger and resentful at the injustice of it all.”
Ms Clayton, who was in the army before joining the brigade, was subjected to extra drills and “useless and dangerous” activities in a deliberate attempt to frighten her. On one occasion, sub-officer Perkins ordered her to take a turntable ladder up to 100 feet and spin it round for more than an hour. She was routinely made to serve tea to her male colleagues and officers in order to humiliate her, it was found. The tribunal found it “interesting” that assistant chief fire officer Haynes had been present for most of the four-month hearing and was convinced that there had been “no discrimination at all”.
The judgment said:”Discriminatory attitudes were so rife, managerial control so little and attitudes so hardened that it is no wonder it took place, with management completely unable to deal with it.” The other woman firefighter was more “compliant” and suffered less, the tribunal heard..
Next week it will establish the amount of compensation to be paid to Ms Clayton. Fire brigade officials yesterday refused to comment until they had time to study the ruling.
Ken Cameron, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, which backed Ms Clayton’s case, said the judgment was a “scathing indictment” of management at Hereford and Worcester who, unfortunately, were not untypical of the British fire service. “I hope this will kick-start chief fire officers into at least taking equal opportunites as seriously as the union does,” he said.
Veash, N. (1997). Firefighter who was harassed wins pounds 200,000. Independent
18th March 1997
Veash, N. (1997). Firefighter who was harassed wins pounds 200,000. Independent
A female firefighter yesterday accepted £200,000 damages in one of the largest payouts for sexual discrimination, three years after a tribunal decided that her life had been devastated by harassment.
Tania Clayton, 31, was victimised by male colleagues in a “deeply ingrained” anti-female culture where she was called “tart” and “stupid fucking cow”, while being ordered to make tea for firemen. When her case came before an industrial tribunal in 1994, the Hereford and Worcester Fire Service was condemned for the “most appalling discrimination”.
Ms Clayton, who now lives with her parents in Wiltshire, joined the Blue Watch, Hereford, in 1989 after five years’ exemplary service in the Women’s Royal Army Corps.
She served under sub-officer Ronald East, who routinely victimised her in front of male colleagues and advised her to get a job in a kitchen, the tribunal was told. In June 1990, she transferred to Worcester but two years later returned to Hereford, this time assigned to Green Watch, where the harassment resumed.
In one incident she was forced to sit on a turntable ladder 100ft in the air and spun round for more than an hour, in an attempt to break her confidence. Yesterday, after 90 minutes’ negotiation in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, her legal team agreed the settlement with the local authority.
Ms Clayton, who blamed the collapse of her marriage on the trauma, said she was relieved her ordeal was over: “It has not really sunk in yet, but it was horrible returning to the place where I won my case. I cannot really recall any specific incident which occurred in the force which drove me out. It was a combination of everything – a sort of wearing-down process.”
Ms Clayton hoped her huge settlement – the largest non- military settlement awarded – would make other authorities think twice before allowing sexual discrimination within their fire brigades.
Kevin McNamara, a spokes-man for Hereford and Worcester County Council, said: “This has been a difficult and long-running process for both sides. Lessons needed to be learnt and new management at the top of our fire service has ensured that the brigade has not stood still.”
Janet Gaymer, head of employment law for solicitors Simmons and Simmons, said: “This woman has suffered harassment for five years and the settlement obviously reflects the time she had to endure the bullying.
“In sexual harassment cases, tribunals tend to award aggravated damages, mirroring the mental and physical distress caused to the individual.”
Ms Clayton, who is still unemployed since leaving the force in March 1994, has received treatment for depression resulting from the ordeal. She said: “I just want to get a place of my own with a garden where I can spend some time with my Staffordshire bull terrier, George, and sort out my life.”
John Gordon, her Fire Brigade Union representative, said: “This is a victory tinged with sadness, Tania’s life has been devastated. The message from the FBU to employers is that this kind of despicable behaviour will not be tolerated and must be stopped.
“She has lost her marriage, her health and her livelihood and it was a very reasonable claim in the circumstances.”
The average payout for a discrimination case in the workplace is about pounds 4,000. But after the pounds 11,000 statutory limit was removed in 1995, awards have been higher.
In 1981, Helen Bamber a Euro-bond dealer received pounds 81,000 from a Japanese company for sexual discrimination after discovering she earned pounds 127,000 less than her male colleagues.
During 1999, legal claims for work-related stress increased by 70% to 783 cases. This is the second time in three years that Hereford and Worcester County Council have paid out over £200,000 in settlement of claims arising out of bullying, harassment and stress. In March 1997, Tania Clayton accepted £200,000 plus £100,000 legal fees in an out-of-court settlement following five years of bullying, harassment at the hands of Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade.