A pharmaceuticals boss has been found guilty of sex discrimination, after a series of sexist comments and verbal communication were reported to a tribunal.
The tribunal heard how David Noakes wrote “Red lipstick, heels – good” on his personal assistant’s job application, and reportedly remarked after interviewing another candidate:
“We can’t hire her as she is ugly and overweight and I only employ beautiful women.”
The tribunal also heard how Noakes reportedly asked a panel of interviewers:
“How are we supposed to hire her, did you see what she was wearing and the size of her? We can’t have her on the frontline representing GcMaf looking like that.”
According to The Telegraph, the 62-year old behind a banned cancer and autism drug was taken to an employment tribunal by his former personal assistant, who said she witnessed sexist treatment after going to work for him.
Miss Pagliarone recounted how she told the panel that shortly after starting her employment in July, that she found her CV on a pile of papers with a note stating:
“Red lipstick, heels – good; tattoos, do not approve; wearing a dress – excellent.”
She also testified to witnessing inappropriate and sexist remarks from Mr.Noakes – mostly towards women – as well as being told that a colleague would “only be polite to you if you are good-looking.”
Despite being awarded a £500 performance bonus in December, Pagliarone was fired from the pharmaceutical firm six months later.
Revealing their verdict, the employment tribunal stated:
“The tribunal has been persuaded that insulting, gender-specific comments were uttered by Mr Noakes on multiple occasions and it was clear that Miss Pagliarone suffered a detriment.
“The applicant witnessed violent outburst from him with lots of swearing being commonplace, which the applicant found very intimidating.”
Mr. Noakes was ordered to pay Miss Pagliarone £10,500 for sex discrimination, but ruled that she had not produced sufficient evidence to prove unfair dismissal based on gender.
Lead Image: Guernsey Press
