London: Malgorzata Lewicka, an ex-receptionist of Ford car dealership Hartwell recently got a huge amount of £23,000 as she was being left out from a pizza party that took place in her office.
Sources said that the staff was asked to give in their takeaway orders in order to hold a little party in the office. The food could range from pizza to burgers, etc. Lewicka claimed that she was deliberately not asked about it and she was being victimized.
From the Watford branch, she was transferred to Hemel Hampstead because the former was being rebuilt. Been working there since 2014, this kind of behaviour is due to a complaint she had filed in March 2018 alleging sexual discrimination as a result of which her pay has been minimal.
The tribunal had investigated the matter and stated that a staff member had committed this misconduct and was given a written warning. Since then, the woman was not treated well. Her phones were not answered and she was deliberately excluded from all public events, including the pizza party.
As per the sources, the company tried to defend saying that she was working part-time but they did not accept this reason in front of the tribunal. Mirror.co.uk quoted the Employment Judge named Jennifer Bartlett, "We accept that the lunches may have been ad-hoc and they were informal. However, Miss Lewicka gave clear evidence that at Hemel, a manager went around the site taking lunch orders and she was included. However, when she moved to Watford, she was not asked if she wanted to or participate whereas the other colleagues were."
Eventually, Lewicka was awarded the compensation she deserved for being left out like that.
