The tribunal heard how this same worker, 'PT' also brought in a sex toy and showed people while looking at Ms Owens and smiling for about 15 minutes. On at least three occasions, she said she heard 'PT' say things like 'do you think women should be in the workplace?' and 'I think women should be in the home' while she was the only woman working.
DOMINIC GAY PORN BLACK MEN DRIVERS
She also said female drivers were criticised differently to how male drivers were when they made a mistake. Ms Owens was referred to at one time as 'the fat woman', and the men she worked with would whistle a Laurel and Hardy tune or play the Antiques Roadshow theme song near her. Ms Owens also said, after a mistake had been made, she overheard a male co worker saying 'this is what you get when you let women in the signal box', before going on to mention something about 'women's hormones'.Īt one point in her time at Network Rail, Ms Owens was told by 'AF' she should sit on another male employee's lap 'to pacify him'.
Not every incident complained about was overtly sexual. The tribunal heard Ms Owens complained about 'BF' coming back from the toilet and saying he had been 'spanking the monkey'.
'MB' once discussed rape scenes from movies for about 20 minutes with 'DT' and was 'expressing pseudo concern' while Ms Owens was the only woman in the room. Regarding these kinds of incidents, Network Rail said it 'did not condone any sort of pornographic material in the workplace and all employees have been trained in diversity and inclusion'. She also complained of how 'RS' looked at almost naked women 'with just two thin lines over their private parts' on a work computer. Ms Owens said if she closed the paper, when she returned to the kitchen it would be open on the same page again. Male colleagues left newspapers open in the kitchen with pictures of naked women inside them on show. Network Rail admitted 'in such an environment foul language is sometimes used', but did not condone this. Because the incidents occurred too long ago, the case was dismissed and Ms Owens did not receive compensation The employment tribunal held in Croydon, London (pictured) found that there were at least 24 incidents of sex discrimination Network Rail signal centre in Wimbledon. The tribunal heard that, throughout her time working at Network Rail, her male colleagues made 'deliberate and gratuitous use of the word c***' around her 'on practically every shift' she worked. In December 2016, another colleague 'MB' watched a porn video while on duty and exclaimed 'there's nothing like a bit of dwarf porn' while his son was sat next to him.Īfter Christmas 2016, Ms Owens started noticing two of her colleagues, 'AF' and 'MB', walk behind her while she was working and deliberately burp loudly as they walked past.Īround this time 'WC' sat next to Ms Owens and deliberately burped loudly and continuously for in excess of 15 minutes until she eventually had to ask him if he was OK.įor many weeks after this, several male colleagues would burp during a shift with her and loudly say 'excuse me'. On her first day at work, when Ms Owens offered to make tea for her colleagues, a male signaller referred to by the tribunal as 'RS' said 'how do you like your oral sex, giving or receiving?'. Rowena Owens was subjected to 'extreme sexism' by at least 16 colleagues at the male-dominated signal centre in Wimbledon, London.