£600,000 sex harassment claim rejected

But yesterday a tribunal rejected Haley Tansey's 600,000 harassment claim despite accepting that incidents had taken place at the loans department of HBOS in Halifax.

A Leeds Employment Tribunal rejected her claims of harassment and unfair dismissal after hearing she was "no cowering wallflower" and did not complain to bank chiefs until August 2007. Mrs Tansey, a married mother of one from Hebden Bridge, is now considering an appeal, her solicitor said.

The panel had earlier heard how Mrs Tansey, 39, had been asleep in a hotel room on a business trip when a married colleague tricked his way in, asked her for sex and stripped naked.

Another worker at bank was alleged to have told Mrs Tansey he wanted to rip her clothes off and "have his way with her". And during the hearing it was said the same colleague also asked her which parts of her body she shaved, talked about her breasts and grabbed her, trying to lick them.

Several other male co-workers were alleged during proceedings to have made suggestive and crude remarks regarding Mrs Tansey as part of a range of incidents which took place over a period of eight years from 1998.

She finally made a formal complaint nine years after the first incident. Managers launched a full investigation and concluded they were "not convinced that the actions were either unacceptable or uninvited".

Mrs Tansey later quit her 39,000-a-year job in the HBOS loans department in Halifax in 2008 after suffering from stress.

In its judgment, the tribunal ruled that her tribunal complaint came too late to succeed, saying: "She alleged that she was the victim of sexual harassment. "She failed to take any action after the event.

"She did not seek trade union or legal advice. She was well enough to take the necessary steps to present a complaint to the tribunal.

The tribunal panel said: "Although the tribunal understood that it is difficult for a woman who has been subjected to sexual harassment to make a complaint, it was satisfied in this case that Mrs Tansey's reasons for delaying so long before taking action were not such that it was just and equitable to extend time."

The tribunal also rejected her claim of unfair dismissal and concluded bank chiefs did investigate her complaints of sexual harassment properly even though they did not uphold them and she had not been forced to resign.

It said: "The complaints of unlawful direct sex discrimination, harassment and unfair dismissal fail."

Damian McCarthy, for HBOS, had told the tribunal: "This is not a claimant who is a cowering wallflower. This is a woman who was assertive in the workplace. This is not an individual who was frightened or scared of reporting. It's a claimant who did not actually believe these were acts of sexual harassment at the time."

In a statement, HBOS owner Lloyds said: "Harassment in the workplace is wholly unacceptable.

"Lloyds Banking Group takes such issues very seriously. Any complaints of harassment made by members of staff are fully investigated and disciplinary action is taken where appropriate.

"It is not our policy, however, to comment on individual cases."

Mrs Tansey's solicitor Simon Bass, of Leeds law firm Milners, said his client was pleased the tribunal had accepted the incidents took place.

But he added: "She is devastated by the failure of the tribunal to find against HBOS."