Programme co-ordinator awarded £22k after boss asked if she was going through menopause

A programme coordinator has been awarded £22k for victimisation after her boss asked her if she was going through the menopause.

The employee (AB) brought forward claims of sexual harassment, victimisation and constructive dismissal, due to her manager (CD) making comments about her going through the menopause twice after she had lost her train of thought.

CD stated, “Is someone going through the change?” and later that day further remarked, “ You’re just acting that way because you’re going through the change.”

The tribunal found that, in the context of a workplace where menopause was openly discussed, the comments did not meet the legal threshold of harassment under the Equality Act 2010. The tribunal stated that though the remarks could be “insensitive”, they were not enough to create a hostile working environment or violate AB’s dignity.

Following these comments, AB resigned, stating she “had no other choice”, and her employment subsequently ended the following month.

AB began her employment with the company in 2022 and in 2024 underwent tests to see if she was experiencing perimenopause, which she told CD came back negative.

In 2024, AB was given a salary increase as she had met performance targets. It was further to this, some two months later that CD made the comments in a busy open-plan office.

CD suggested that a conversation with AB about menopause had begun on the day but was led by the company’s health and safety officer, who was also experiencing menopausal symptoms herself. As CD said that the health and safety officer “had chosen to be open about symptoms” to encourage others to share their experiences, the tribunal stated, “As a result, we find that it was not unusual for menopause issues to be raised in office conversations.” 

The tribunal determined that AB not showing visible upset at CD’s initial comment was what led him to make a further comment later in the day. However, AB said that she had gone to the toilets, upset because of the comments and because she had recently found out she was pregnant.

Subsequent to the comments, AB messaged HR and raised a grievance, stating that CD’s behaviour had made her feel “anxious and too upset to come into work”.  She also flagged the comments that CD had made to HR and suggested he had created an awkward working environment by giving her the silent treatment for the following two months.

Later in the month, AB was moved to a factory office that she said was “noisy and dirty” and was put on a performance review plan after being invited to a formal capability meeting, as her computer login times suggested she had been repeatedly late and not working her full contract hours.

Subsequent to this, AB submitted a letter of resignation, which stated “Unfortunately, I do not feel like I have been left with any choice as the company has failed to deal with my grievance of sex discrimination and bullying in the workplace adequately [and] have been therefore unable to provide me with a safe place to work and have breached my contract of employment. My position within the business is now untenable. I have sought advice from Acas, [which has] advised me to submit my resignation on the grounds of constructive dismissal.” 

The tribunal also heard that AB had submitted a fit note that signed her off from work for 2 weeks, but after she did not return to work, she was deemed absent without permission for the last 2 weeks of her employment. 

The judge determined that AB’s claim that CD’s comments “violated her dignity” was “not reasonable”, as she was “unduly sensitive” due to personal matters. It was stated that “The comment itself was not inherently offensive, nor was it made to demean AB or in an attempt to get others to laugh at her.” 

Whilst her claims of harassment were dismissed, her claims of constructive dismissal succeeded and her claim of victimisation partially succeeded.

At a later remedy hearing, AB was awarded £22,253, with £12,500 for injury to feelings, £6,598 for loss of earnings, £645 for loss of employer’s pension contributions, £1,833 in interest on injury to feelings, £676 in interest on financial losses and £1,346 for constructive unfair dismissal.

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