Sex pest boss told employee: ‘I bet you’re into bondage’
A tribunal has ruled that entrepreneur Stephen Taylor sexually harassed a female employee, pretending to hit her with a ruler.
A Jewish businessman mimicked spanking his female employee with a ruler before she was unfairly constructively dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.
Stephen Taylor, founder and managing director of Promo Concepts Ltd, which sells corporate gifts, regularly brought employees to tears with his behaviour, the panel heard.
Successful claims for sexual harassment, unfair constructive dismissal and sex discrimination were brought against the London-based company by a female employee.
She told the hearing how Taylor repeatedly claimed she must be into bondage, saying: “I can imagine you being a dominatrix.”
The tribunal heard how Taylor spanked a ruler against his hand, telling her “I wish I could,” and made unwanted comments about her appearance when she was wearing a low-cut top.
The entrepreneur, who has appeared on television and in national newspapers, had denied the claims.
But in a ruling published last week, the tribunal found employees at the business were in fear of being dismissed at short notice, and the claimant was subjected to “sexualised remarks and behaviour” from the business founder.
Other former employees told the tribunal that he asked them whether they cheated on their boyfriend because “in sales you had to be a bitch to succeed.”
“The picture we found was of a workplace where Mr Taylor had and exerted power and acted in ways which regularly upset employees and brought them to tears,” ruled a hearing at London Central Employment Tribunal.
The board-room was dubbed “the crying room” because it was a frequent occurrence for employees to be upset after having been there, the tribunal heard.
The final straw came when the employee confronted her boss about a perceived different pay structure at a meeting in 2017, saying she did not want to work for a “boss who frightened her and sexually harassed her and was treating her unfairly.”
He refused to address any difference in the pay structures, the hearing found, “because he felt that there was no financial justification for doing so.”
A spokesperson for Taylor said he “vehemently denied” the conversations took place, and that he had begun an appeal.
“However, in this challenging economic climate, a prolonged costly legal battle was in no one’s interests and this matter was resolved privately with no admission of the highly disputed allegations,” he said.
The business was also this month ordered to pay out £22,714 after another employer won an unfair dismissal claim.
The employer had in that case also failed to pay commission owed, the tribunal found.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
