Woman wins ginger discrimination claim

A female waitress who alleged that she was tormented at work by her boss about her red hair has been awarded compensation of £17,618.

An employment tribunal in Exeter ruled that Sarah Primmer, 41, had suffered discrimination over her hair colour and awarded her compensation for unfair dismissal and sexual harassment.

Ms Primmer, from Plymouth, told the tribunal that she was so upset about comments made to her by the night manager when she worked at the Rendezvous Café in the city and her subsequent sacking that she started to straighten her hair and had blonde highlights put in it.

The divorced mother of three told the hearing that the comments made to her by the night manager, Zia, at the Turkish-run kebab shop had been lewd and embarrassing and had included jibes about the size of her breasts.

She said that she now wanted to go blonder as the teasing had damaged her self esteem and "it is not nice to be ginger".

Tribunal chairman, Christa Christensen, ruled that Ms Primmer, 41, had suffered "regular sexual harassment and innuendo" while working at the cafe between November 2004 and October 2006.

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Date:26/06/2007 11:57:59