'It scared me. They are not small lasses': Care assistant sacked for sexually harassing her male colleague after undoing the top buttons of his uniform as another woman filmed it on her mobile

Kelly Daley, 29, claimed she pounced on man as a joke after he had slapped her on the bottom

She undid his buttons as victim fended her off with a laundry basket, employment tribunal heard



Footage of incident was shown to other staff who apparently found it funny

Victim said it left him working in a 'hostile, degrading and offensive' environment

Miss Daley's claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed by a judge

When a male colleague playfully slapped her behind as she bent over a desk, care assistant Kelly Daley laughed it off as horseplay.

Unfortunately, when she decided to take ‘playful’ revenge by confronting him in the care home laundry room and undoing buttons on his uniform, he didn’t see the funny side.

The man reported Miss Daley, 29, to management for bullying and sexual harassment, claiming his dignity was ‘violated’, an employment tribunal was told. It was also claimed she grabbed his genitals – which she strongly denied.

'Just harmless fun': Care worker Kelly Daley (pictured) was sacked after she undid the top buttons of a male colleague's uniform as a joke while another worker filmed it

Miss Daley and fellow carer Gemma Bartrop, 27, who filmed the button incident on her mobile phone, were sacked for gross misconduct. A female nurse who viewed the footage was also given a final written warning. However, the man, who had previously slapped both their bottoms in similar incidents, escaped with a ticking off.

He was also granted the legal right to anonymity after the Sheffield tribunal decided the incident should be treated like a sexual offence.

Miss Daley claimed unfair dismissal against the owners of the privately-run home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, but lost her case.

She had worked at the home for more than eight years and had a previously unblemished record.

‘I feel he has been treated far more leniently than me,’ she told the tribunal. ‘I feel I have been classed as a rapist.'

But the company claimed she had deliberately attempted to humiliate and demean the male assistant. Miss Daley said she was bending over a desk doing a time sheet in the office when the man slapped her bottom ‘quite hard’ and laughed.

She told him: ‘Don’t do that. I will get you back later.’ Miss Daley didn’t complain, but made good her promise later that day in the laundry room.

She said she undid one press stud on his uniform tunic as he fended her off with a laundry basket. The man said Miss Daley undid three buttons.

'It was not a nice experience and seemed to go on for ages. It scared me - they are not small lasses.' Victim



Miss Daley said she was just teasing him and that ‘banter and horseplay’ was common among staff. She said that after undoing a button she told him: ‘I have got you back for slapping my bum earlier.’ She said: ‘I didn’t attack him, I just undid a press stud.’

Miss Daley said she did not know her friend was filming or that she had talked of putting the footage on YouTube. ‘It was just banter and harmless fun,’ she said.

But the man told bosses he was left ‘uncomfortable, shocked, scared, on edge and nervous’.

The victim told investigators: ‘It was not a nice experience and seemed to go on for ages. It scared me – they are not small lasses.’

He claimed Miss Bartrop egged on Miss Daley, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, and he was frightened it might have gone further. The victim said: ‘What started out as a laugh got out of hand and has made me quite nervous.’

He claimed he had been humiliated and the incident in April had left him working in a ‘hostile, degrading and offensive’ environment. The care home company said the incident breached its code of respect and its equality and diversity policy among its workforce.