Teenager who was sacked after wearing trainers to work wins £30,000 payout for 'victimisation'

28 December 2024, 09:15

A teenager who was sacked for wearing trainers to work has won almost £30,000 because she was "unfairly tackled" over the issue according to a tribunal.

Elizabeth Benassi, now 20, successfully sued her former employer for victimisation because business manager Ishrat Ashraf "treated her like a child" due to her footwear choice.

The young woman was 18 when she worked there and did not understand the company's smart dress code.

She said other staff who did the same were not sanctioned.

When she was dismissed from the recruitment company after just three months, Ms Benassi took them to an employment tribunal and her claims have now been upheld by a judge who said bosses had a "desire to find fault" with her.

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The tribunal took place in Croydon and Ms Benassi was awarded total compensation of £29,187

She joined Maximus UK Services, which works for the Department of Work and Pensions and helps to get people back into work and off benefits, in August 2022.

Allegedly her colleagues were "a young group of employees", mainly in their early twenties, but she was "the youngest of all".

She told the tribunal that being the most juvenile "made life difficult for her" because she was "excluded from the group" and "micromanaged". 

The panel were told about an "incident" which occurred on September 26, when Ms Benassi wore trainers to work.

Employment Judge Eoin Fowell said: "This was a breach of the dress code, although she was not aware of it."

Ms Ashraf spoke to her about it straight away and Ms Benassi apologised.

The young employment adviser said she was unhappy about the way she had been spoken to and emailed Ms Ashraf to say so.

She wrote: "This morning you mentioned that I am not allowed to wear trainers to work.

"Despite not being aware of this, as I have never worn trainers to work before, I apologised for this and you rolled your eyes.

"I have now realised am not the only one wearing trainers today and I have not seen anyone receive the same chat that I have."

Then Ms Ashraf escalated the matter to Operations Manager, Abdul Ali, who said: "I want to see a professional dress code at all times.

"This is totally unacceptable coming to work in trainers. Please adhere to a professional dress code."

Later that day, Ms Benassi questioned whether it was "ok if she could go to the toilet" in front of a client.

In response, two colleagues emailed Ms Ashraf to say this interaction left them "too stunned to speak", with one saying they were so "extremely embarrassed" that she "went bright red".

The tribunal said that Ms Benassi was "being closely monitored" by her colleagues so it did not seem "remarkable that she should ask such a question".

"Perhaps what was embarrassing was what it said about her working environment," the judge added.

The tribunal heard evidence of another incident, which occurred earlier that month, in which Ms Benassi attended a team building event at a bowling alley.

She told the panel that as the youngest member of staff she was "self-conscious about her age" and told Ms Ashraf that she wanted to keep it quiet.

But her manager ignored this request and Ms Benassi was left "shocked and disheartened" having discovered she had told staff members the employment adviser was 18.

Ms Benassi said: "I didn't want to be treated differently, or as I had put it 'as the baby of the group."

During her employment, Ms Benassi raised a grievance against her boss.

On October 31, she was invited to a probation meeting and told she would be dismissed for a variety of reasons.

This included "dress code" and how she failed to wear "appropriate office attire".

The employment adviser sued for harassment on grounds of age and victimisation, the latter of which was upheld.

The company says that they sacked her over "concerns about her performance" and so her contract was terminated after three months at a probationary review stage.

They gave evidence to the tribunal that the reason other employees were not spoken to in the same way regarding wearing trainers was because one staff member had been 'given permission' to do so as she had a 'sore foot'.

Employment Judge Fowell said: "Had that been the case, Ms Ashraf would no doubt have mentioned it at the time in her email in response.

"So, Ms Benassi was immediately and unfairly tackled about this on arrival at the office.

"No allowance was made for the fact that she was new and may not have been familiar with the dress code.

"It was therefore a clear unfairness, and indicates a desire to find fault.

"She was literally being scrutinised from the moment of her arrival."

They said this created a "hostile working environment" for Ms Benassi - who said she was "treated like a child" over her choice to wear trainers.

But her claims of harassment relating to age were not upheld because they were unable to determined that her treatment was in regards to her being 18-years-old.

On the victimisation claim, the panel said: "The fact is that to fail the probationary period at all is highly unusual, and there is no satisfactory explanation as to why Ms Benassi only lasted three months."