Woman gets £90k payout after manager smacked her bottom with ruler at work

The woman said she was told to 'stand up and turn around' in front of male managers and then had her bottom smacked with a ruler. Credit: PA

A woman has been awarded a £90,000 payout after a male manager slapped her bottom with a ruler at work.

The Northern Ireland woman alleged that in 2021, at a staff meeting, she was told to stand up and turn around, and was then slapped on the bottom with a ruler by one male manager in front of another.

Neither the woman nor her employer can be named in order to protect her identity.

The Equality Commission said it was a "shocking and distressing" case and it showed the workplace had a "toxic laddish culture".

Chief Commissioner Geraldine McGahey said: “There is something badly wrong with a workplace where this sort of behaviour is acceptable.

"This case demonstrates a toxic laddish culture that shows scant respect for female colleagues.

“This young woman felt she had no option but to resign from her job. 

"She did not feel her employer was treating her as a victim of sexual harassment, rather it was treating her as a troublemaker. 

"She lost faith that any of her employer’s actions were in her interest or that they ever took her concerns seriously. 

"The investigation made her feel like a perpetrator rather than a victim."

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