'Skewed perception' | Worker misinterpreted colleague's behaviour as sexual advances, tribunal hears

A worker sued her manager for sexual harassment after misinterpreting ‘XX’ marking a blank space in an email where he wanted more information as kisses.

The worker also thought question marks within the message were code for sexual advancements, resulting in her feeling “anxious and uncomfortable” at work.

Amongst the claims were accusations her boss was attempting to “chat her up” when on a business call by staring at her and running his hands through his hair, and thinking the acronym ‘ajg’ left by her boss in presentation files stood for ‘A Jumbo Genital’ – in the hearing, the manager said this was his initials which he left after files he had reviewed.

The worker took her employer to court for sexual harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal after expressing the grievances to her boss and later resigning from the job – the judge ruled that these allegations were false.