IFRAME: https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-T8QCW7 Advertisement Skip to main site navigation Skip to main content Skip to footer * CIPD * CIPD Events * PM Insight People Management People Management (BUTTON) Open * News * Voices * Long reads * Experts * Contact Us * PM Jobs When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Open search form Enter your search term ____________________ Search People Management People Management (BUTTON) Close Site navigation Enter your search term ____________________ (BUTTON) Search * News * Voices * Long reads * Experts * Contact Us * PM Jobs * CIPD * CIPD Events * PM Insight * Home * News * Articles News Lesbian employee ‘told to keep sexuality secret’ wins discrimination case 30 Jan 2019 By Lauren Brown Tribunal hears concerns over ‘old school’ business owner led to ‘odd and uncomfortable’ demand A lesbian employee who was told by her boss to keep her sexuality hidden was the victim of discrimination, a tribunal has ruled. Ashleigh McMahon, who worked as a quality control manager at Lancashire-based textiles firm Redwood TTM, was told not to share her sexuality because she was the only gay employee. The Liverpool Employment Tribunal heard McMahon disclosed her sexuality to the firm’s managing director, Darren Pilling, in her first week of employment. __________________________________________________________________ * Employees who don’t trust their business on diversity 'three times more likely to quit' * Gay employees don't have to be 'out' at work * What are you doing to support transgender employees? __________________________________________________________________ Pilling then reportedly told her “not to make it common knowledge that she was gay” because “the owner of the business was ‘old school’ and that the company did not have any other gay people working for it”. McMahon worked for Redwood TTM for eight months May 2017 until she was made redundant that December. McMahon told the tribunal she found the demand “odd and uncomfortable” but had complied as she was mindful of the impact it could have on her employment, as she had only just begun work. McMahon worked for Redwood TTM for eight months May 2017 until she was made redundant that December. Pilling denied that McMahon had disclosed her sexuality early on in her employment or that he told her to disclose it – however, the tribunal found in favour of McMahon’s versions of events. It found McMahon had been “discriminated against on the grounds of her sexual orientation” because she had been “less favourably treated by being asked not to disclose her sexuality by comparison with a hypothetical person not sharing her protected characteristic”. Employment Judge Wardle added: “In terms of these alleged discriminatory acts, we believe that the claimant did make Mr Pilling aware of her sexuality early into her employment, despite his protestations to the contrary, and while not considering him to be homophobic in any way we also believed that he did suggest that she kept it under wraps as we felt that the reference to Mr Atherton being ‘old school’ had a ring of authenticity.” A remedy hearing will now be arranged. Redwood TTM declined to comment. The tribunal dismissed a further claim by McMahon that she was unfairly dismissed because she had raised concerns around health and safety. Adele Edwin-Lamerton, specialist employment and discrimination lawyer at Pattinson & Brewer, said that in order to avoid facing claims, it was vital to be mindful of the workplace environment. “Employees should not be required to divulge deeply personal information about themselves, nor should they be prevented from discussing their private life should they wish to do so,” she said. Edwin-Lamerton added employers might want to implement a specific LGBT+ policy, in addition to their equal opportunities policy, to make it clear that their workplace is an LGBT+ friendly environment. “They should ensure that their disciplinary policies are clear on what behaviour could constitute bullying and harassment, that there is a clear grievance process in place and they should also consider providing training,” she said, but added: “Policies are only as good as the paper they are written on [and] any grievances should be thoroughly investigated.” Advertisement Advertisement PM Jobs View More Jobs Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development Doncaster, South Yorkshire Salary - £58,621pa plus benefits St Leger Homes of Doncaster Head of Learning & Organisational Development Head of Learning & Organisational Development Enfield (City/Town), London (Greater) Up to £75,231 London Borough of Enfield HR Business Partner HR Business Partner Isle of Man c.£80,000 NSFR Ltd View More Jobs Share * * * * * Explore related articles * News Gardener with anxiety and depression unfairly dismissed following drink-driving conviction Tribunal rules employer failed to take claimant’s health into account when investigating his conduct * News Nursery worker was unfairly dismissed after blowing the whistle on colleague Tribunal hears employee was viewed as a ‘nuisance’ and suffered disability discrimination after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety * News Hairdresser was unfairly dismissed after complaints about ‘offensive’ tone in the workplace Tribunal finds employer had made her mind up about claimant’s guilt before beginning investigation * News Manager with hepatitis C was unfairly dismissed in ‘sham redundancy’ Tribunal rules that employer did not make prospect of job loss clear after business hit financial difficulties Sign up to PM Daily and keep up to date with all the latest HR and business news from People Management Sign up People Management * News * Voices * Long reads * Experts * PM Jobs * Contact us * PM Insight * CIPD Events * CIPD * Terms and conditions * Privacy policy * Cookie policy * Social bookmarks * Anti Modern Slavery statement Join the conversation * * * * © Copyright Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2020, 151 The Broadway, London SW19 1JQ, UK Incorporated by Royal Charter, Registered Charity no. 1079797