Flipped off | BT worker giving female colleague the middle finger not sexual harassment, tribunal rules

A male BT worker who made a middle finger gesture toward his female colleague on multiple occasions was not guilty of sexual harassment, a tribunal has ruled.

The claimant, a former business advisor at the telecommunications firm and Romanian citizen, had filed a case against her employer alleging sex and race discrimination and harassment.

There was no evidence to suggest that the gestures were motivated by sex or race, the employment judge presiding over the case found, stating the individual “showed the middle finger to both male and female colleagues.”

Why was BT taken to tribunal over middle finger gesture debacle?

Andreea Cracuin accused BT of breaching equality law with its handling of a complaint she filed against her colleague, Darren Sliman, after the male worker reportedly brandished his middle finger at her on multiple occasions in 2023.