'Tired & unpresentable' | Worker wins tribunal after manager demanded she wear make-up

Telling female employees to wear make-up is considered sexual harassment, a tribunal ruled after a waitress at a Soho restaurant was told she should wear some because she looks “tired and unpresentable”.

Jahnayde Henry, a 24-year-old former waitress at the Soho, London restaurant Tattu, sued the restaurant after her manager demanded she wear make-up in her following shift, making her feel “undermined”.

A judge has backed Henry, saying that this type of comment would not have been directed at a male employee. They added that telling a female employee how she should improve how she looks creates a 'humiliating environment'.

The swanky central London restaurant opened in 2022, and Henry had two weeks training ahead of the business’ opening. However, the restaurant’s manager, Joanna Huang, was “very strict”, “draconian” and “always wants 100 per cent”, the tribunal heard.