News In Focus
13 February 2007
Record homophobic award for sales manager
A sales manager has been awarded a record £118,000 after his employer made fun of his sexuality and sacked him after only eight days in the job.
The sum in favour of 32-year-old Jonah Ditton from Paisley is the largest ever awarded by an employment tribunal for discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Mr Ditton had been employed by the Glasgow firm CP Publishing Ltd, but was sacked because his employers claimed he was not "psychologically balanced". The tribunal heard that Mr Ditton's boss Warren Paul had persistently insulted him on a daily basis, calling him a "wee poof" and a "cream puff" and asking him if he came from Stoke-on-Trent, rhyming slang for "bent". The name-calling had been carried out in front of other members of staff, a process Mr Ditton said he found degrading.
Mr Paul had also allegedly threatened to send round police officer friends to Mr Ditton's house if he contacted the office after leaving.
Following his sacking, Mr Ditton claimed unfair dismissal under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations. He told the tribunal he did not think his sexuality had any impact on his ability to do his job, and that as a result of his experience he had needed treatment for depression.
The tribunal described CP Publishing Ltd's treatment of Mr Ditton as "insulting and oppressive", and the manner of his dismissal "humiliating and degrading". He was awarded £10,000 for injury to feelings, £76,937 for pecuniary loss (Mr Ditton had expected to earn at least £80,000 a year in his job), £5,291 in interest and £26,081 because the company had failed to follow statutory procedures.