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Nelson woman's discrimination claim over 'pin-up' pictures in Blackburn canteen

10:08pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

comment Comments (43)   Have your say »

Photograph of the Author By Tom Moseley »

A woman has launched a claim for damages after claiming pictures of scantily-clad woman in the staff canteen amounted to sexual discrimination.

Sue Dale will be in line for tens of thousands of pounds if she wins her case against beauty giant Sally Hair and Beauty Supplies.

The 53-year-old, who worked in the firm's warehouse on the Whitebirk industrial estate, claimed pictures from tabloid newspapers, including the Daily Sport, pinned up by colleagues were offensive when she gave evidence at an employment tribunal.

Miss Dale, who was sacked by the firm in 2006, also claimed co-workers used playing cards with pornographic pictures and brought porn DVDs to work, with one worker bringing in material from Sweden.

The three-day hearing in Manchester finished today and the verdict will be revealed in the next two weeks.

Today a former director of the firm gave evidence and said he could only remember one time Miss Dale, of Berkeley Street in Nelson, had complained about the copies of the Daily Sport pinned up in the warehouse.

Ian Carson said: "I was leaving the gents and she shouted out that lot should be banned'. I told her it was a daily newspaper.

"I believe she was offering a personal opinion, and she didn't pursue it."

Cross-examining Mr Carson Lee Cuttell, Miss Dale's advocate, said: "Principally it was the newspapers she complained about, showing scantilly-clad women in knickers with no bras on.

"Would you agree that was in those papers?"

Mr Carson replied: "In virtually every national tabloid newspaper there are scantilly-clad women and men.

"I remain of the opinion that a daily paper is a daily paper."

He said he would have told Miss Dale to go to her line manager if she had raised a complaint.

Mr Cuttell said: "What we have here is an employee raising concerns about material she finds offensive and you did nothing.

"It's unequal treatment because she is a woman."

Mr Carson denied the claim.

In her evidence, Miss Dale had claimed she had told Mr Carson some members of staff were bringing "bottom shelf pornography" to work, and claimed she had been told to raise the matter in writing.

But Mr Carson said he could not remember the meeting, and "absolutely denied" making a lewd remark to Miss Dale when she raised complaints.

He said one man had brought a pornographic magazine in and had been disciplined, and said he was aware some items were being brought in from "a Nordic country".

He added: "Offensive material should not, in any way shape or form, be in the workplace."

Mr Carson, a former site replenishment director who has since left the company, said he and Miss Dale had been "soulmates", but claimed she would sometimes 'explode' in public and use expletives.

Miss Dale, who was first employed as a store picker, was given a formal written warning in January 2006 and sacked in August 2006 following a written complaint from another member of staff, he said.

Sally Beauty, which makes products including hair curlers and bikini wax, has branches all over the world.

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Blondie, says...
10:13am Wed 21 May 08

I take it she has not sense of humour?

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Dave, Darwen says...
10:16am Wed 21 May 08

She should have put up a few pictures of scantily clad blokes as well. If no-one complained, live and let live. If they were taken down, she would have proved her point.

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BLT, Blackburn says...
10:49am Wed 21 May 08

This just the type of complaint that has lawyers smacking their lips and rubbing their greedy little hands together with glee.
I cannot honestly believe that cases such as this are still being trawled out in the 21st century,as Dave,Darwen commented,she should have stuck up a few posters of musle-bound males and waited to see if the blokes complained.
All I see here is a bitter woman with an axe to grind against men,with the added bonus of a nice fat pay-off...

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Merlin, The Voice of Reason, Ramsbottom says...
10:58am Wed 21 May 08

The only point of contention this woman has is that the pics were pinned up on public view.

If the blokes were just reading the newspaper, even it was The Daily Sport, then they were just reading a daily newspaper. She should get a life.

Men have been looking at and capturing the naked female form since caveman times and it will not change.

The words: "silly old cow" come to mind.

And a compensation-chasing hypocritical bitter one too!

Report this post »

jcb, says...
11:57am Wed 21 May 08

So she's too prudish to look at pinups, but not too prudish to use expetives in the workplace. And what exactly was she sacked for? This sounds like a case of sour grapes from a vindictive money grabber.

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jd, colne says...
12:48pm Wed 21 May 08

The words arrogant halfwits spring to mind. The case obviously goes much deeper than what you have read in the paper so rather than making pathetic comments on a subject you know a small fraction about I suggest you keep quiet.

She is no prude I can assure you, Sally Hair & Beauty are merely un-proffessional & underhand and wanted rid of a hard worker who speaks her mind.

I didn't realise that this story was about her looks? Take a look at your own ugly mugs!

With regards to the pay out, she doesnt need the money. She is a woman of principles and if I were in her position I would do the same thing.

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Danny, somewhere over the rainbow says...
1:22pm Wed 21 May 08

And you know all this how?

As someone pointed out earlier, why didnt she put up some male model pictures. Im sure that nobody would have complained or kicked off a fuss like this woman has.

*Buy one, get one free on Marrows *

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jhwklvr, Across the ocean says...
2:11pm Wed 21 May 08

Although I agree with both sides...she needs to loosen up and relax a little, if she was offended she should have gone through the proper channels to report the situation. As it stands now, it looks as if she is a disgruntled employee trying to get back at the company and people involved. She has a right to be offended, but I seriously think that women take the whole "harassment" for granted and take advantage of the situation. If you have a problem, fix it. Don't take it to court until you have done everything that you can out of court. I am a woman and that's how I feel. We as a society around the world are over-reactive when it comes to the courts and lawsuits.

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jd, colne says...
2:11pm Wed 21 May 08

and this matters why?

If it was a man in this position standing up to a big company for sexual discrimination, he would be getting a pat on the back. Because its a woman, she is seen as a prude. get a grip love

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lil me, NO WHERE NEAR YOU says...
2:38pm Wed 21 May 08

jd its all **** if u ask me. so what if theres daily paper pics up at work, she should have put her own up.
anyway sounds like it was needed in the first place coz who else would be able to work in a place where theres people like her without a distraction?
if i were a bloke i couldnt!

Report this post »

Haggis, North of Manchester says...
2:48pm Wed 21 May 08

jd wrote:
The words arrogant halfwits spring to mind. The case obviously goes much deeper than what you have read in the paper so rather than making pathetic comments on a subject you know a small fraction about I suggest you keep quiet. She is no prude I can assure you, Sally Hair & Beauty are merely un-proffessional & underhand and wanted rid of a hard worker who speaks her mind. I didn't realise that this story was about her looks? Take a look at your own ugly mugs! With regards to the pay out, she doesnt need the money. She is a woman of principles and if I were in her position I would do the same thing.
Can I kick you off your soap box for a moment? Obviously you know the 'lady' in question? Surely such companies have policies and procedures in place to stop these things getting this far?Clearly at least one of her workmates understood these ...to get her out of the door. Clearly this doesn't stop some people from jumping on the 'no blame no claim' bandwagon and hitting employers where it hurts, which makes things tougher for the rest of us. I wonder which tabloid paper Ms. Dale favours?

Report this post »

jd, says...
2:50pm Wed 21 May 08

chill ur beans love

Report this post »

Joke, no where near here says...
2:51pm Wed 21 May 08

this is a crazy!!! How come this has only come out after she has left!! if it was issue at the time why wasn't it reported!!!! Has anyone else reported this from Sally!!!

Report this post »

Haggis, North of Manchester says...
2:54pm Wed 21 May 08

Guess the 'unfair dismissal' and 'equal opportunities' hearings failed... so maybe it's 3rd time lucky??

Report this post »

justice, preston says...
3:51pm Wed 21 May 08

This is crazy,i think we are missing the point.The lady obviously has a good case and it must go alot lot deeper.I think she is very brave to voice her oppinions.Why should she have to look at things she's uncomfortable about!And ask yourself is there a reason for why shes so uncomfortable about them? im disgusted at some of the statements that you've wrote,hence the things that are obviously on your top of the list is MONEY as thats all you seem to keep mentioning......oh and looks...when did looks come into fair and equal opportunities.you disgust me,were you a bully at school?do you read all the pages of a newspaper and see the consequences after the actions of bullies....its not nice i assure you.so think long and hard before you judge.theres two sides to every story.

Report this post »

cypruslad, cyprus says...
4:36pm Wed 21 May 08

justice wrote:
This is crazy,i think we are missing the point.The lady obviously has a good case and it must go alot lot deeper.I think she is very brave to voice her oppinions.Why should she have to look at things she's uncomfortable about!And ask yourself is there a reason for why shes so uncomfortable about them? im disgusted at some of the statements that you've wrote,hence the things that are obviously on your top of the list is MONEY as thats all you seem to keep mentioning......oh and looks...when did looks come into fair and equal opportunities.you disgust me,were you a bully at school?do you read all the pages of a newspaper and see the consequences after the actions of bullies....its not nice i assure you.so think long and hard before you judge.theres two sides to every story.
Get real.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
Shes in it for the money.

Report this post »

jhall, nelson says...
4:38pm Wed 21 May 08

o my god!! what a big fuss. If this woman has nothing better to do than complain about good looking women in the workplace then where is this"lady" ever going to work? jealousy is what it comes to im afraid and im sure she has other things to worry about!!!!!!!!!!Stop wasting peoples and courts time and money.

Report this post »

justice, preston says...
6:03pm Wed 21 May 08

yes your correct stop wasting peoples&courts time and money.Like her money.....tax&stamp shes probably been paying longer than the majority who have more time to judge somebody they dont know from adam.I still cant understand where the jealousy and looks come into a court case that involves a Lady who has been dissmissed from her job role for whatever reason(tho im sure we'l find out)and the smug comments that she should get into the real world where people are comfortable looking at pinups etc,in fact a survey was done in 2005 regarding women feeling intimidated by garages/offices/book

ies etc that had the Sport newspaper and Pinup Calenders 21000. out of 25000 said they were uncomfortable around such things.i agree with yes men have been looking at this kind of material since the cavemen,and people should move on with times.But in those days or earlier eira men had respect and if they were looking at such things they did it in there own time and place.NOT IN A WORK ENVIRONMENT WHERE SOMEBODY HAD VOICED THERE OPINION THAT THEY WERE UNCOMFORTABLE BY IT.i know that the kind of material mentioned would most definately not be allowed in my work force.and im sure i could name alot of other businesses that wouldnt allow aswell.also theres many cases that males have fort and won regarding sexual discrimination at work, again equal rights etc.i just feel people are being judgmental towards the lady and very hurtfull.

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Telling it as it is, Blackburn says...
6:45pm Wed 21 May 08

She should've gone to work "scantily clad" to prove her point. Looking at her i'm sure the lads would've torn down the pictures and said "Point made"!!!

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mrs w, nelson says...
6:48pm Wed 21 May 08

claim, claim, claim! if the said bitter woman isnt in it for cash reasons, maybe a written apology would do? instead of wasting time money and blackening good local companies names! get a grip! before long employers wont be able to make any decisions without getting a second opinion. In turn this costs money which affects the company and so on.......... and on and on!

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unknown, darwen says...
7:16pm Wed 21 May 08

i would just like to say i worked at sally's 5yr ago,i was having problems with a male worker there who kept to come onto me,i went to mr carson & told him everything what was happening he said it would be investigated i waited 2 months & nothing was done i went back and complained yet again to mr carson telling him how uneasy i was working there and still nothing was done so 2 wk later i left the company so unless you have worked there dont fire bullets at sue

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kit, burnley says...
7:35pm Wed 21 May 08

i pity the next person to employ this woman she obviously out to cause trouble and make herself lots of money in the process

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Father Xmas, Lapland says...
11:41pm Wed 21 May 08

This is yet another example of political correctness sending the world mad! If people want to read the Daily Sport then that is a personal choice. I think this women is after a few quid and not much else!

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d holmes, preston says...
8:12am Thu 22 May 08

She such a lovely lady? why is she in the process of taking her next employer to court?serial claimant!

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KJ, Brierfield says...
10:55am Thu 22 May 08

... c'mon.... we've all, including this lady seen a pair of t1ts! Whats the problem??? And yes, I'm female!

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Danny, Accistan says...
12:58pm Thu 22 May 08

kit wrote:
i pity the next person to employ this woman she obviously out to cause trouble and make herself lots of money in the process
After reading this i dont think anybody would ever employ her. then again if you were an employer, would you?

Dug her own grave

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kath, burnley says...
1:22pm Thu 22 May 08

her next victims are two of the most nicest hardworking people u could meet who run a small business and gave her a job and now are following the previous company to a tribunal.whatever the outcome it has already cost them a small fortune just to defend themselves.so to other companies i say "beware" if you see a he/she coming towards u with a p45 in her hand Please shut up shop and make a run for it.

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Danny, Accistan says...
1:58pm Thu 22 May 08

She just looks like trouble really. Im sure whatever the reason for her dismisal was something down to a fault on her part. Companies dont just sack people for no reason, not so much now that there could be crazy people like this witch around.

*Theres always someone worse off than you, lady.*

Forshame!!!

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jahover, bangladesh says...
2:23pm Thu 22 May 08

oh do i detect the cavia massive sticking their ores in? another fine example of a great company to work for. NOT!

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S, BBurn says...
2:32pm Thu 22 May 08

Whats wrong with having pictures of pretty girls up on the wall? If she was so offended, she should have taken them down herself.

It's not very ladylike to "burstout with expletives" is it now? Can pictures taken from daily newspapers honestly be taken as "harassment"? Just because the lads decided to swop around a couple of dvds she got offended? Was she forced to watch them? No.

She's in it for nothing but the money.

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mrs w, nelson says...
7:13pm Thu 22 May 08

May i point out, that i worked for kavia mouldings in the past and found it a very friendly, laid back place to work. Lets not bring kavia into this pathetic debate! one company has already had its good named tarnished through no fault of its own!

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Mr Bannister, Burnley says...
9:39pm Thu 22 May 08

Yes another parasite on the backs of us decent working tax payers.
Is this the lady in questions first dispute??? I doubt it very much. My wife runs her own business and will not employ anyone other than her own family because of such folk! YES SHE IS SCARED! But we know that such parasites live and breath and make a living on doing just what this parasite is doing.

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Sofia, says...
10:32pm Sun 25 May 08

Women are not just mere objects to be perverd on by disgusting overweight middle aged men!! Hope she gets a big payout, she deserves it after what she has had to look at!!

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Hellboy, Feminist A**ehole Hell... says...
3:50pm Tue 27 May 08

Sofia wrote:
Women are not just mere objects to be perverd on by disgusting overweight middle aged men!! Hope she gets a big payout, she deserves it after what she has had to look at!!
I detect a 'strong' female has wrote this comment(for the term 'Strong' read 'Woman who's husband left her for a far better,younger woman,thus turning said female to Lesbianism...')
Get over yourself,woman. It is quite obvious that you must her lady-friend,and it is financially advatageous for you to write such an anti-male,inane comment...

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Danny, Accrington says...
9:57am Thu 29 May 08

Sofia wrote:
Women are not just mere objects to be perverd on by disgusting overweight middle aged men!! Hope she gets a big payout, she deserves it after what she has had to look at!!
She deserves f*ck all!

I told you what she deserves last time, but my post was deleted. and SHE didnt need to look at anything, assuming she has the same human reaction such as closing ones eyes, or turning you neck, or even lowering your head. And erm, women that consent to showing their bodies to the public are being PAYED to be objects of desire. If they didnt want to do so, then they wouldnt pose nude would they?

I thank you

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ste, blackburn says...
7:11pm Thu 29 May 08

why as sally gone around the workers and made every one sign a thing to say there will not disscuse the case with the meida if there was not guilty if you worked at sallys you would take them to court there are a rubbish comperny to work for or if you asked avery one from blackburn there would say the same so good on sue and good luck to her

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kay, scotland says...
5:48pm Fri 30 May 08

i can see both points,+ know S.H+Bty company wel.the thing about them is they've got new bosses in now + their tryin 2 push out long time servin members(hard workers)as they could buy+sell these new cheifs,which they dont like.good luck 2 her hope she wins + stings Sally's big time!whatever her true real reason is 4 doing this,go girl!they can afford it.

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justice, preston says...
12:30pm Sat 31 May 08

thankyou somebody with a bit of common knowledge.... to all you people who have never worked at sh&beauty,if you take time to read all comments you will have figured out that alot of sallys employees have also had sexual harrassment issues that have 'should we say' been swept under the carpet.mrs dale has taken it further to clamp down on such behaviour and other underhand goings on which cant be mentioned for certain reasons.all i can say is its in the jurys hands lets hope she gets justice.and for the on goings now at sally.....dont let them get swept under the carpet like the unfortunate lady at darwin who ended her employment there as nothing was done and she felt so uncomfortable.good luck mrs dale,some things just have to go public.

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ex sally employee, nelson says...
12:36pm Sat 31 May 08

i knew sue, worked along side her,she is and has been very honest with happenings at sally.and yes theyare forcing hard workers out using special tacticts.i dont think for one minute mr j posten from texas who is a director just knows whats been going on at sally as mentioned earlier the management at the moment stink.so for those who dont know anything about sues case,watch this space.

Report this post »

ex sally employee 2, north yorks says...
8:34pm Tue 3 Jun 08

Having read the comments posted above i can tell that a lot of you have never worked for sally's or know how the company works. been a good employee or not when sally's have decided that they don't want you any more they will do anything in there power to get rid of you. I knew sue from when i visited the company and i found her to be a hard working member of staff who supported her team when she was a supervisor and stood up for what she believed in. it's about time somebody stood up to the company and the new idiots they have employed called DIRECTORS....good luck 2 her hope she wins

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*BuRnLeY GiRl*, burnley says...
11:12am Sat 7 Jun 08

Putting up pictures of naked men would “NOT” prove a point! It’s just basically being as stupid and immature as what the men were doing in the first place (save it for home time boys). I wouldn’t like to be sat eating my dinner whilst there were pictures of naked woman hanging from the walls. I wouldn’t put it down to jealousy at all, I’d just be trying my best to keep my dinner down whilst all the blokes are slavering/perving on the piccies. Good luck to u sue.

Report this post »

j, bburn says...
4:57pm Fri 13 Jun 08

Sally Hair and Beauty is an absolute joke. It really was quite embarrasing working for them and there joke of a management team, or should i say the chocolate tea pots! Mr Carson was a total cowboy, and as for Crawford....well the less said the better. I to knew Sue and found her to be hard working and honest employee, that farce outfit deserve everything it gets,

Report this post »

Haggis, North of Manchester says...
4:17pm Wed 25 Jun 08

Hmm... not much coverage on the outcome..... is there?

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CANTEEN ANGER: Sue Dale complained to her bosses about pictures from the Daily Sport being pinned to the wall in the canteen at Sally Hair and Beauty Supplies CANTEEN ANGER: Sue Dale complained to her bosses about pictures from the Daily Sport being pinned to the wall in the canteen at Sally Hair and Beauty Supplies

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