Tribunal win | Female B&B worker told by boss he can't change bed sheets as 'it's a woman's job'

An employee at a bed & breakfast in the Lake District has won a sex discrimination case after she was told by her boss that stripping beds “is a woman’s job”.

The court heard that Nicola Nolan, an employee at Appletrees guest house in Keswick, had once had a good working relationship with the owner of the B&B, Catherine Fairfield.

However, Nolan, who works as an assistant with duties of serving breakfast and cleaning rooms, was asked to change the bed sheets of her boss and her husband, Jason Fairfield, who also acted as her manager.

According to the ruling, when Nolan agreed to change the bed sheets of the business’ owners, she said to Jason Fairfield that he should strip the bed instead of her, having slept in it himself. In response, Fairfield allegedly told Nolan: “It’s not my job to do it, it is a woman’s job.”