High Court judge Justice Owen said that the campaign at the
international banking firm against Helen Green involved a
"relentless campaign of mean and spiteful behaviour designed to
cause her distress" that left Green on some occasions crying
silently at her desk.
The largest part of the award is the £640,000 awarded for future
loss of earnings and a pension, and it is this portion which marks
the case out as unusual.
"We have seen cases like this before a number of times but the
court has awarded such a large amount because it took the view that
this person would not be able to work at this salary level for a
long time in the future," said Tom Potbury, a lawyer specialising
in employment law at Pinsent Masons, the firm behind OUT-LAW.
Though the award will concern other City financial institutions,
Potbury said that the problem of bullying at work was very real but
very widespread. "It is a problem, but it is not confined to City
firms. People get bullied at work everywhere, though the City is a
higher stress culture than other workplaces," he said. "This will
make other City firms make sure they are doing everything they can
to avoid this."
The case heard that Green, who worked as a company secretary
assistant, was ignored and verbally abused and subjected to crude
and lewd comments. Her colleagues would move her papers, hide her
post and remove her from document circulation lists.
Deutsche Bank paid for stress counselling and assertiveness
training for Green but she had a nervous breakdown before returning
to work and suffering a relapse.
"The best way for companies to deal with workplace bullying is
to have a clear policy in place and to make sure that employees
know about it," said Potbury. "The policy then has to be enforced.
If someone complains it is important that the employer does not
sweep it under the carpet," he said. "That is the best way of
protecting yourself against claims. You can better defend yourself
if you can show that you have done everything you can."
A Deutsche Bank statement said that "No decision about whether
to appeal has been made at this stage".
Part of Green's case was argued under the Protection from
Harassment Act, a 1997 anti-stalker law that is beginning to be
used in employment cases. A House of Lords ruling last month
permitted its use in employment cases, and the law differs
substantially from existing employment legislation.
"I don't think anyone imagined when the law was made that it
would be used against employers," said Potbury. "Employers have no
real defence against this law. If an employee is harassed at work
on more than one occasion they can be liable and there is nothing
they can do about it."
In the case on which the Lords ruled, the NHS was vicariously
liable for the harassment of employee William Majrowski, even
though it was not guilty of causing the behaviour or of failing to
prevent it. Previously, employees had to prove that the employer
had been negligent in preventing bullying, but that is no longer
the case.
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