The woman had said that company managers called her "a
silly little girl" after she told them of her condition. The
tribunal found in her favour and was about to award damages when
the she reached a settlement with Estée Lauder, the company told
OUT-LAW.COM. The terms of the settlement have been kept secret.
Susy White was a business analyst with Estée Lauder in the
Aramis and Designer Fragrances division of the company. She told
her employers in 2005 that she had epilepsy and claimed that
bullying followed.
White said that managing director Tony Measom and sales director
Indra Pamamull called her a "silly little girl" who "lacked a
business brain" and that she had a tendency to "throw her toys out
the pram".
An employment tribunal found that White's two managers were
guilty of direct discrimination, disability discrimination and
harassment.
White was off sick from her job for three months. Sources close
to White told reporters that when she returned to her job Measom
tried to force her into a lesser, administrative post. She resisted
this and, the source said, was subjected to a campaign of
humiliation.
Estée Lauder said that it "sincerely regrets" the events. The
company said that White's job was still open to her. It also said
that it would change the way it trained management to avoid
bullying in the future.
"The company accepts the tribunal's ruling that found against
the company in this case and has taken very seriously the
tribunal's judgement," said an Estée Lauder spokeswoman. "Because
of the tribunal's findings the company will ensure that steps are
taken to enhance current management training."
"The company sincerely regrets that events unfolded as they did
and the distress caused to Mrs White," it said.
The tribunal was due to announce its compensation award the day
after it announced its verdict, and there was speculation that it
could be as much as £225,000. An Estée Lauder spokeswoman told
OUT-LAW.COM, though, that the two parties reached a confidential
settlement before the tribunal awarded compensation.
"An agreed settlement has been reached on Mrs White's claims and
the tribunal proceedings are now closed," said the spokeswoman.
Ben Doherty, an employment law specialist at Pinsent Masons, the
law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that very large damages awards
are rare.
"Very large damages have been awarded in disability
discrimination cases, but only in cases when it has resulted in a
loss of a job and future earning prospects," he said. "Mrs White
can also expect to be compensated for her injured feelings."
A case involving the West Yorkshire Police in 2003 has set a
structure for payouts for injured feelings, said Doherty. "That
tribunal gave guidance of three bands of compensation. The lowest
band was £500 to £5,000, which was for one off incidents of
discrimination and less serious types of discrimination."
"The middle band was £5,000 to £15,000 for more serious examples
that did not merit an award of the highest band," said Doherty.
"The top band of £15,000 to £25,000 was for the most serious cases
where there were lengthy campaigns of serious discrimination
including campaigns of sexual harassment."
There is no upper limit to the amount that an employee can be
awarded in disability discrimination cases. Lost earnings
compensation is generally awarded only until the employee finds
similarly paid employment, or for one or two years.
