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"You should either reduce the size of your breasts or get some new blouses."
For a former estate agent working in Britain, that was a typical remark her boss Gerald Probert would say to her.
Julie-Ann Reed became ill with depression, as a result of frequent and humiliating remarks that Probert would make about her breasts. When she eventually objected to his remarks, she was fired.
Thankfully, the 27-year-old was awarded more than S$81,480 in damages and costs by an employment tribunal.
Morale of the story? Keep abreast with your rights as an employee!
Comments
Gerry Probert
Ms. Reed was NOT fired, she QUIT without notice in Jan. 2008 and left her employer stranded. He then had to call up a former secretary who had worked for him years earlier to step in. He was not a sexist, quite the contrary, he have Ms. Reed a chance to run a successful business into the ground. She wanted a raise, Gerry could not afford to pay her more than the 25,000 lbs. she was already earning. She was a clever girl, and had thought up a way to get the "raise" she wanted, rather than work for it, she would claim sexual harrassment. Even her mother, Sheila Reed, who knew Gerry for many years, did not approve of the lawsuit as she knew in her heart that her daughter was NOT harrassed in the least.
For god sake, Ms. Reed worked for Gerry for 7 years. All that time he was trying to get her to dress more professionally. But she did not have class, and what proves this is that before Gerry's body was even cold, she was calling his two sons to try and extort money from them!
How tragic, what a waste of a good life by a man who only wished to help others.
Now Ms. Reed has blood on her hands, I hope she suffers as a result.
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT
I can't quite believe that i have even taken the time and trouble to respond to all of this but after posting my previous messages i have just re-read the above message. My dispute with Gerry was just that - with him. I have never and won't ever contact his son's in relation to this. All i ever wanted was the wages that i was owed and if i had been paid them it wouldn't have gone to tribual and all the other comments etc woudn't even be public knowledge. WHAT ON EARTH HAS CLASS GOT TO DO WITH IT?
TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Actually contrary to everything that has been reported so far i did quit and not as a result of Gerry's sexist comments. I quit because since February 2007 Gerry was not paying my full salary as he claimed he couldn't afford to and also because of the terrible way in which he treated me. I was also ALREADY suffering from depression which he didnt cause, but in fact made worse. Gerry made a fool of me - while he was claiming he couldn't afford to pay me he was still food shopping at Marks and Spencers as well as paying to keep two point to point horses in livery at several hundreds of pounds per horse per month. To top it all off i have since found out that he had jetted off to America to see his new female "friend" whilst still not paying me - even worse is that a former colleague who he also owed wages to dropped him to the airport after being told he was only off to france!
I also never asked for a raise - all i ever wanted was the salary i was meant to be earnig.
I DON'T SEE WHY AN EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL WOULD SETTLE AT TEN OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS IF HE WAS SO INNOCENT - DO YOU?!!!
You may also like to know that the employee who dropped him to the airport has since suffered a stroke as a result of all of this and is currently very poorly.
More than meets the eye
Whoa. You should have wrote the newspaper article that my blog entry was based on! I had no idea how juicy the whole saga was until reading your insider information!
Can't help wondering if you're Gerry Probert though =p
If you would like to know the
If you would like to know the WHOLE story, please feel free to contact me. Julie -Ann Reed. 07859 911643
Thanks for the update
Hi, thanks for speaking up... I believe Gerry totally. No man will mind a little cleavage.
some bosses are just plain
some bosses are just plain mean, abusing their authority or position. what's body size got to do with efficiency at work!
good thing justice was served in the case here.
know your facts before you judge others!
JUSTICE WAS NOT SERVED.
Mr. Probert did not defend himself as he was too defeated by the closing of his busiess of 44 years. Now Ms. Reed has blood on her hands. I hope she suffers and then someday begs forgiveness to God for what she has done.
A good man has ended his life - 44 years of helping others and not a black mark on his good name until this lie and extortion attempt.
I will never ever beg God for
I will never ever beg God for forgiveness as i DO NOT need to and the number of people wishing me well proves just that. I am very sorry indeed for Mrs Probert , Greg and Ross- i worked with Gerry for along time and i was very very fond of him. I worked for nearly twelve months where i wasn't paid properly because i truly believed he would pay me if he could, but he didn't.
After all is said and done i thought alot of Gerry - that's why i stayed without pay for as long as i did. I don't even see why i am bothering to defend myself BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE ANY BLOOD ON MY HANDS WHAT SO EVER SO THANKYOU FOR YOUR TIME MR/MRS/MS ANON
Get Your Facts Straight....
Ms Reed was spoken to badly so was I but only once as I told him where to get off...., Mr Probert reduced another member of staff to tears in my presence he was not such a saint.... Ms Reed worked hard, Mr Proberts was missing from the office and refused to return calls when asked to.. She was loyal and covered for him all the time. She didn't want to leave as she had too much time invested in the company. To many clients it was her who ran the office, Mr Probert being absent so often. How do I know this - I worked with both of them!!!!
okaayy...
Ok, someone must have worked in that company to know facts that readers like us do not know.
Julie ann Reed
I worked for Proberts at the end of last year, I was one of 3 female employees, one of whom was Julie. I often heard Gerry speak to Julie in a way that was totally unprofessional and unacceptable. I did say to her on more than one occasion that she should not allow him to talk to her in that way. I also know he was late paying wages!
Chin up Julie