Settlements - how much should I ask for?

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  • Gavin83
    Gavin83 Posts: 8,749 Forumite
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    bonnielass18 wrote: »
    P.s. the solicitor is working on a no win no fee right now however if it does go to tribunal, that might change. He is expecting that they will settle however

    That's good for you as it gives you a back out plan. The moment the solicitor is no longer willing to work on a no win, no fee basis is the moment to drop the case. That suggests that he is no longer confident you'll win. It does sound somewhat like he's relying on a settlement more than the strength of the case. He's suggested 4 months salary, I suspect they'll come back with 2 months and his advice will be to accept. It depends on the employer, it'll probably be cheaper for them to settle but they might defend out of principle.
    bonnielass18 wrote: »
    However do I actually have a strong case or is he taking a chance that they will settle to avoid the hassle.

    Honestly, based on what you've said I don't think you have a strong case at all, even less so on a sex discrimination basis. I can see what's happened here. You've messaged the guy from work, his wife has found the texts and to get himself out of trouble he's claimed you were harassing him and raised a complaint at work. He's probably gone for a similar story with his 'work mates' and they've backed him up.

    However I wouldn't really say the employers have done anything wrong. They received a claim of sexual harassment, which they obviously have to investigate. Even so, it doesn't appear they were planning on sacking you for this. However, you raised a complaint, you were probably on your last legs anyway and they no longer considered you worth the hassle. They should have probably gone through a formal process but this isn't tribunal worthy, best case scenario you'd be entitled to your notice.

    Lesson to be learnt, it's not a good idea to text a member of the opposite sex at work, especially when you haven't been there that long.

    This is of course assuming you've been 100% honest here and there isn't more to the story.
  • bonnielass18
    bonnielass18 Posts: 34 Forumite
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    But they didn!!!8217;t even investigate it, the had a conversation with the guys and decided there and then that it was fact and then disciplined me. First I heard there was any kind of issue was when I received the warning in email.

    And then I raised my grievance and they didn!!!8217;t investigate that. and then dismissed me for something else... and then changed their minds for it to be something else again
  • bonnielass18
    bonnielass18 Posts: 34 Forumite
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    Sorry!! I keep forgetting about the issue with the iPhone and it just looks like I am really angry with all of the exclamation marks
  • Gavin83
    Gavin83 Posts: 8,749 Forumite
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    bonnielass18 wrote: »
    But they didn!!!8217;t even investigate it, the had a conversation with the guys and decided there and then that it was fact and then disciplined me. First I heard there was any kind of issue was when I received the warning in email.

    And then I raised my grievance and they didn!!!8217;t investigate that. and then dismissed me for something else... and then changed their minds for it to be something else again

    But none of this appears to be sex discrimination, just poorly implemented practices. I'm assuming it was the solicitor who advised to enter it as sex discrimination because quite simply if you hadn't you'd have no right to a tribunal.

    Look, this is my opinion. In reality my opinion doesn't really matter, I won't be deciding the case. My strong advice (and I'd suggest taking this on board) is if you can't come to a settlement and the solicitor will no longer continue the case on a no win, no fee basis that's the time to drop it. Once your solicitor is effectively admitting you don't have a strong case that's a bad sign. Until that point feel free to carry on, but I'd certainly consider any offer your ex employer puts forward, just don't expect it to be the figure you ask for.
  • bonnielass18
    bonnielass18 Posts: 34 Forumite
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    No it was me that said sex discrimination as that is how it felt. I!!!8217;m the only female and what the male employees say is fact and no one even was interested in my version of events. That felt to me that I was being discriminated against because I was a woman.

    And when they ignored my grievance when they had taken a males complaint so seriously also makes me feel like it!!!8217;s discrimination.

    And the fact they have then dismissed me makes me feel that I was dismissed because I raised the grievance which I put down to victimisation.
  • Ozzuk
    Ozzuk Posts: 1,884 Forumite
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    Change 'male' to 'colleague' and to me your case just disappears. I just don't see how you could prove its because you are female. It could well be, sadly does happen (as we've seen on another thread), but it could also be because they took a colleagues side over yours, nothing to do with sex.
  • nicechap
    nicechap Posts: 2,852 Forumite
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    seashore22 wrote: »
    That sounds uncannily like another thread on here, but from the other side and further along in the process.

    Workplace romance seems to cause an awful lot of trouble.

    Uncanningly so.

    There was a recent thread on marriage board from someone divorcing and trying to get a bigger settlement, caused no end of argument, and then, lo and behold the spouse joined MSE and started a different thread from their side of the argument, cue more and more arguments.
    Originally Posted by shortcrust
    "Contact the Ministry of Fairness....If sufficient evidence of unfairness is discovered you’ll get an apology, a permanent contract with backdated benefits, a ‘Let’s Make it Fair!’ tshirt and mug, and those guilty of unfairness will be sent on a Fairness Awareness course."
  • nicechap
    nicechap Posts: 2,852 Forumite
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    bonnielass18 wrote: »
    The grievance I raised was for sex discrimination. The termination happened a week later and they said it was poor performance. And then they later changed their mind and said it was redundancy. It is all documented.

    What was your performance like?

    Were their previous meetings/ bonuses/ problems/ minutes/ emails they could point to in any Tribunal hearing.

    (you might like to aquaint yourself with legal definition of redundancy and re-check the dismissal letter).
    Originally Posted by shortcrust
    "Contact the Ministry of Fairness....If sufficient evidence of unfairness is discovered you’ll get an apology, a permanent contract with backdated benefits, a ‘Let’s Make it Fair!’ tshirt and mug, and those guilty of unfairness will be sent on a Fairness Awareness course."
  • pinkshoes
    pinkshoes Posts: 20,082 Forumite
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    bonnielass18 wrote: »
    No it was me that said sex discrimination as that is how it felt. I!!!8217;m the only female and what the male employees say is fact and no one even was interested in my version of events. That felt to me that I was being discriminated against because I was a woman.

    And when they ignored my grievance when they had taken a males complaint so seriously also makes me feel like it!!!8217;s discrimination.

    And the fact they have then dismissed me makes me feel that I was dismissed because I raised the grievance which I put down to victimisation.

    So your case of sex discrimination is based on the belief that if a man on the team had said what you said, it would have been ignored?

    Do you have evidence of men on the team having said similar things, a complaint being made, and no action taken?

    I fear you will struggle to prove that the action was taken purely because you were female.

    I spent 10 years in engineering and often the only female, so know what it is like to get treated differently all the time.
    Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
    Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')

    No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)
  • bonnielass18
    bonnielass18 Posts: 34 Forumite
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    Yes that’s correct. They never would have complained if it was a male colleague. And sadly I have very limited evidence of it. It was always when we were in our group and they will all club together because they’re friends and obviously will be protecting their jobs. However we did have a customer that witnessed a naked photo of a male colleague being circulated around the team. But I haven’t spoken to her about that - I’ve decided to wait for the solicitor before I do anything on that.

    In my case, HR took the word of 3 male colleagues and issued a warning. I complained about their process and that I was being treated differently and they ignored my complaint. So right now I feel as if I’d have to have balls to have gotten anywhere.

    Then they dismissed me for poor fit and when I asked what that meant, one of the reasons was performance when I had outperformed many members of the team and also this issue. When I challenged it, they then said that I was being made redundant because of a restructure and sent me a redundancy letter.

    But I don’t know if that’s enough.

    My other claim is victimisation - because I believe that I was sacked because I kicked back, and raised the sex discrimination complaint.
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