Amber Stoter,
30, from Bicester, represented herself against Gain Healthcare during the
three-day hearing in Reading. According to the Oxford Mail, the manager was
sacked by CEO Olinda Chapel-Nkomo days after she complained the CEO's husband,
Tytan Nkomo, had made crude comments referring to her as "part of my
property" and about being "hard", tribunal documents alleged.
Commenting on a
picture the mum-of-three had posted online with the caption "working hard
in the sun", Mr Nkomo responded "that’s not the only thing you make
go hard", it was heard.
It was alleged Mr Nkomo told Ms Stoter she was "like his girlfriend" and when she "half-smiled" at a passing male motorist on the way to a work meeting, he told her "don’t allow men to look at you like that, you are part of my property" in June 2023.
On June 28,
2023, Ms Chapel-Nkomo called Ms Stoter into her office and fired her for
"concerning and escalatory behaviour", a tribunal heard.
At the Reading Employment Tribunal, Ms
Stoter won her case for unfair dismissal and victimisation. A remedy hearing to
decide her compensation will take place in September.
Ms Stoter said:
" It was the most bizarre and horrible thing I've ever had to go through. I
had to go to the GP because my anxiety has been through the roof. I was awfully
nervous representing myself in the Tribunal. I felt I had to represent myself
because I have little trust in the legal system.
In a witness
statement, Mrs Chapel-Nkomo said: "I dismissed her because of her
exceptionally concerning and escalatory behaviour during my one-to-one with
her."
Upholding her
claims of unfair dismissal on ground of protected disclosures, Employment Judge
Colin Baran said: "Overall, the Tribunal concludes that the principal
reason for (Ms Stoter's) dismissal by Mrs Chapel-Nkomo was the making of the
protected disclosure about Mr Nkomo....
"The
Tribunal concludes that at the time of dismissal Mrs Chapel-Nkomo knew of the
fact and nature of the disclosure – reports of sexually inappropriate conduct
by her husband Mr Nkomo towards (Ms Stoter), a new member of staff.
"Such a
disclosure, if properly acted upon, would have been problematic not just for
(Gain Healthcare) but also for Mr Chapel-Nkomo personally.’
The judgement
added that the reason given for dismissal was not supported by other evidence,
and that the ‘matters reported in the disclosure were not looked into or
addressed’ by the company following Ms Stoter’s dismissal.
COMMENTS