On Thursday, the United Kingdom announced that insulting a man for being bald in the workplace constitutes sexual harassment.
Since hair loss is significantly more common in males than in women, using the term is “inherently related to sex” and equivalent to commenting on the size of a woman’s breasts.
The decision comes in the case of Tony Finn, an electrician who sued a local Yorkshire-based family business over the term.
According to the source, things started to get ugly when one of Finn’s bosses, Jamie King, allegedly called him a “fat, bald c—” and was later terminated from the West Yorkshire-based British Bung.
In court, Judge Jonathan Brain debated whether King’s baldness insult was disrespectful or if it had crossed the line into harassment.
“In our judgment, there is a connection between the word ‘bald’ on the one hand and the protected characteristic of sex on the other,” the panel said. “We find it to be inherently related to sex.”
The company’s lawyer “was right to submit that women and men may be bald” but contended that “baldness is much more prevalent in men than women,” the verdict noted.
“So too, it is much more likely that a person on the receiving end of a remark such as that made by Mr. King would be male,” it added.
Finn’s shaved head was also deemed “degrading” and “humiliating,” according to the ruling.
“This is strong language. Although, as we find, industrial language was commonplace on this West Yorkshire factory floor, in our judgment, Mr. King crossed the line by making remarks personal to the claimant about his appearance.”
“This is strong language. Although, as we find, industrial language was commonplace on this West Yorkshire factory floor, in our judgment, Mr. King crossed the line by making remarks personal to the claimant about his appearance.”
Finn’s sex harassment allegation was upheld by the tribunal, which also found that the company had fired him unfairly after 24 years on the job.
Finn’s monetary reward will be determined at a later time.
