'XX, YY' Mistaken as Sex Demand! IT Employee Sues Boss for Sexul Harassment After 'Mistaking' 'XX, YY, ????' in Email For Something Inappropriate, Court Rejects Her Petition
An IT worker in UK sued her boss for sexual harassment after mistaking “xx” in his email as code for wanting kisses and his initials for ‘A Jumbo Genital’. The project manager also argued her boss’s use of question marks in the same message were code for asking her when she would be “ready to engage in sexual acts”.
London, May 19: An IT worker in UK sued her boss for sexual harassment after mistaking “xx” in his email as code for wanting kisses and his initials for ‘A Jumbo Genital’. The project manager also argued her boss’s use of question marks in the same message were code for asking her when she would be “ready to engage in sexual acts”.
According to a report in BBC, Karina Gasparova made a string of elaborate claims that Aleksander Goulandris wanted to have a sexual relationship with her because of how he wrote emails, named computer files and his mannerisms on video calls. IBM Employee on Sick Leave for 15 Years Sues IT Company for Not Giving Salary Hike, Claims He Is Victim of ‘Disability Discrimination’.
She also claimed to the employment tribunal at London Central Court that her superior’s renaming a file with his initials ‘AJG’ was actually an acronym for ‘A Jumbo Genital’. Layoffs in Meta: I Packed My Whole Life in Five Suitcases, Says Sacked Employee As Fresh Round of Firing Leaves Many Workers Angry and Disappointed.
A judge-led panel also rejected her other sexual harassment claims terming it as a "skewed perception of everyday events", Gasparova interpreted Goulandris' renaming of a draft presentation file with "ajg" in brackets as meaning "a jumbo genital", his shouting as mistreatment for her having 'rejected his advances', and his refusal to have lunch as a sign he "only wanted sex".
The panel rejected her claims of direct sex harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal.
Employment Judge Emma Burns said after the case was rejected that "Our primary reasons for rejecting her account of events were that we considered her perception of everyday events was skewed.”
She demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence, and she contradicted herself in a way that could not be attributable to a fallible memory, said the judge adding that Gasparova interpreted entirely innocent work-related conduct, some of it accidental, by Goulandris as having a sinister intent.
Gasparova was also ordered to pay 5,000 pounds to essDOCS in costs following her failure to comply in time with parts of the tribunal procedures.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2023 09:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).