Woman who claimed she was raped by her manager after boozy Christmas work party in West End club wins sex harassment case against house building company which judge ruled was responsible for sex attack
- House builders Crest Nicholson had ‘a duty to protect victim,’ tribunal ruled
A female employee of a house building company who was raped after a boozy Christmas party, leaving her with internal bruising and bleeding, has won an employment tribunal claim against her former employers.
In a highly unusual case, an employment judge has ruled Surrey-based house builders Crest Nicholson was responsible for the sex attack, which took place in a hotel after the bash in a West End club, because it was held on a normal working day and staff could claim expenses for travel.
Events at the party which led up to the rape – where the site manager had groped another female employee – ‘cried out for decisive action’ from senior colleagues, the panel said.
Instead the rape victim was left to ‘fend for herself’, something she was ‘ill equipped to do,’ the tribunal stated, meaning that the married woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will receive compensation from the firm.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the victim that they would not pursue formal legal charges against the site manager.
Surrey-based house builders Crest Nicholson had a duty to protect the rape victim as the party took place on an ordinary working day, the tribunal concluded (file image)
The hearing in Cambridge was told she had been working for the house builder at the same site as the unnamed site manager who attacked her.
In November the company, which employs 900 people, hosted a Christmas party held at the Piano Works club. More than 80 people attended and staff were allowed to claim £50 in expenses to cover travel and accommodation, the panel was told.
The event started at 1pm and a free bar operated all day, the tribunal heard.
The woman who had arranged to share a hotel room with two female colleagues began the festivities with a glass of prosecco.
She told the tribunal that during the afternoon, the site manager started paying attention to her, describing how ‘whenever she turned around he seemed to be there’.
Drinking games were played, and another colleague – known only as Ms V – described him as becoming ‘touchy feely’.
The site manager’s behaviour became ‘progressively worse’ and at one point he pinned Ms V against a pillar, and groped her across both breasts, the panel heard.
Another colleague saw him grab her crotch, it was said.
The hearing was told that a male colleague intervened and confronted the site manager, who ‘became immediately aggressive’, after being told ‘enough was enough’.
However, his behaviour was not reported to senior management, and he remained at the party, the tribunal was told.
Later in the night, the site manager’s victim – who was drunk, having had five or six bottles of beer – was seen leaving the party with him, the panel heard.
Colleagues assumed they were going to sleep together consensually, the tribunal was told, with one ‘cavalier’ director remarking: ‘These things seem to always happen on Christmas parties.’
However, once in a taxi together the site manager tried to kiss her.
‘Her misplaced sense of trust in the Site Manager led her first to get into a taxi with him, where he made an initial unwanted advance when he tried to kiss her, and thereafter resulted in her allowing him to accompany her back to her hotel,’ the tribunal found.
‘The Site Manager raped [her] in her hotel room. We find that she did not consent to any form of sexual activity with him and indeed find that in her intoxicated state she lacked essential capacity to give such consent.’
The woman – who drifted in and out of consciousness during the attack – suffered internal bleeding and bruising, the panel heard.
Traumatised, she took time off work, and reported the attack to her husband, the police and her employers.
The site manager was suspended while the company launched an investigation but while off work he rang his victim and told her: ‘Both our families have a lot to lose,’ in an attempt to ‘coerce her’, the tribunal heard.
He was later sacked over his behaviour towards Ms V at the party.
The victim’s mental health deteriorated in the months after the incident and she eventually went off work with depression, the tribunal heard.
She was later told by the Crown Prosecution Service there was insufficient evidence to continue with the case against her attacker.
The woman took Crest Nicholson to the tribunal claiming sex harassment and discrimination.
The Christmas party was held at the Piano Works club. More than 80 people attended and staff were allowed to claim £50 in expenses for travel
The company argued it could not be held responsible for what happened as the incident did not take place in the workplace or during ordinary working hours.
However, the tribunal disagreed.
Employment Judge Roger Tynan said: ‘We conclude that the ordinary layman would say that the events in the taxi and in [her] hotel room…were done in the course of his employment, rather than isolated, discrete acts.
‘Accordingly… [Crest Nicholson] is responsible for those acts of his.’
The tribunal also ruled the company had failed to put ‘reasonable safeguards’ in place to protect its staff at the Christmas party, and said the woman had been left to ‘fend for herself’ when targeted by the site manager.
Mr Tynan added: ‘There was every reason for Crest Nicholson to suspect that the site manager’s actions may continue and indeed escalate.
‘On any reasonable and sensible view, the Site Manager should have been excluded from the party and suspended from his employment either immediately or at the earliest possible opportunity.
‘The site manager represented a clear and present danger. He was drunk, had sexually assaulted a colleague [Ms V] at least twice, pinning her against a pillar during the latter assault, and had squared up to another colleague.
‘The situation cried out for a decisive intervention. Indeed, arguably, consideration should have been given to involving the police.
‘[The woman] was left by [colleagues] to fend for herself, sadly something that night which she was ill-equipped to do.
‘The company failed to fully discharge its responsibilities to protect her.’
But while the woman’s claim of harassment succeeded, her claim of discrimination against the company in relation to her claim she was effectively forced out of her job failed.
A hearing to decide how much compensation the woman should receive will be held at a later date.
Crest Nicholson is based in Weybridge, Surrey, and employs more than 900 staff.
According to its website it is an ‘ethical and progressive employer which encourages continuous professional development and rewards the effectiveness and loyalty of employees’.
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