Star Radio station saleswoman loses claim for sexual harassment and unfair dismissal

A radio station saleswoman who claimed her boss asked for new recruits to have “big boobs and blonde hair” like her today lost her case for sexual harassment and unfair dismissal.

Dawn Carney, 37, from Ingleby Barwick, told an employment tribunal that John Clayton’s behaviour was so bad that she changed her hair colour from blonde to brunette as a result of his “sexist” remarks.

Mr Clayton was said to have criticised her “tacky dress sense and cheap perfume,” made derogatory comments about the appearance of women co-workers and “touched her inappropriately”.

But a tribunal panel in Newcastle ruled for Mr Clayton and Darlington-based Star Radio’s parent company, UK RD Group, and dismissed her claims.

Dawn took up her post in July 2013 to “improve the station’s reputation and win back advertisers” who left after regulator Ofcom warned it over the “childish and crude” ad about a previous employee.

Summing up their reserved judgement, the panel said: “While we have not been able to find for the claimant, we can sympathise with her to some extent.

“The radio station under the stewardship of the previous managing director had a reputation for disgusting behaviour on air, and the claimant was victim of this when she first arrived.”

The tribunal found that Miss Carney had lost her £65,000-a-year with bonuses job as a result of poor sales.

But the panel ruling added: “It is no wonder that the respondent suffered damage to its reputation, and we can see that the claimant had a hard task on her hands to generate advertising revenue.

“The decision to dismiss her came out the blue and was executed brutally. We have no doubt that these claims have been brought as a reaction to the dismissal and with a view to being compensated for it.

“However, the claimant did not have the requisite to bring a claim for unfair dismissal, based on the reason given to her, nor in respect of the manner in which the dismissal was effected.”

John Hunter, the employment judge, found Miss Carney’s evidence about her boss touching her leg inappropriately during a business meeting in a bar “exaggerated” and “inconsistent”.

He went on: “There is nothing to suggest that any touching of the claimant by Mr Clayton was anything other than accidental and fleeting, if it happened at all.”

After a period of illness, she returned to work on March 31 last year to be told she was no longer needed as part of the business and was to leave with immediate effect, because of her performance.

The tribunal ruled that “the sole reason for the dismissal was the failure of the sales team to arrest the fall in revenue”, with the station losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Edward Legard, for the respondents, said Mr Clayton was ‘professional and courteous’ at all times and Ms Carney’s allegations of sexual harassment were “scurrilous fabrications.”