A Muslim cocktail waitress who resigned after being ordered to wear a "revealing" dress for work that offended her religious beliefs has won £3,000 for sexual harassment despite having posed for photographs in a low-cut top. Fata Lemes, 33, who claimed her upbringing meant she was "not used to wearing sexually attractive clothes", was handed the payout even though it later emerged pictures of her in a revealing top had appeared on Facebook, the social-networking site. Miss Lemes later insisted that the photo was taken on a beach and was irrelevant to her claim that the dress she was asked to wear at the Rocket Bar in Mayfair made her "look like a prostitute".
The tribunal panel concluded that the Bosnian Muslim "holds views about modesty and decency which some might think unusual in Britain in the 21st century". But it accepted that she genuinely believed that the short, low-cut dress was "disgusting" and made her look "like a prostitute". It ruled that her bosses should have made allowance for her feelings and their insistence that she wear the dress amounted to sexual harassment, it ruled.
Lawyers for Spring & Greene, the restaurant group that owns the bar, highlighted the existence of the Facebook picture to the tribunal but it is not known whether the panel ever saw it before making their judgment.
The panel at Central London Employment Tribunal found that Miss Lemes "overstated" her trauma at being asked to wear the sleeveless dress that was open at the back. It rejected Miss Lemes' claim that she was left with no choice but to walk out of her job after just eight days. It branded her compensation claim of £20,000 including £17,500 for hurt feelings – as "manifestly absurd". But it awarded her £2,919.95 for hurt feelings and loss of earnings.
Miss Lemes, who had previously worn black trousers and top to work, told the tribunal that she "might as well be naked" in the dress, adding: "I was brought up a Muslim and am not used to wearing sexually attractive clothes."
In its judgment, the panel ruled that restaurant group Spring & Greene must "take their victim as they find her". It said of the dress: "It is eye-catching, not only because of its colour but also because of its cut and lines. It is clearly a garment for a girl or young woman. It is intended to, and does, show the curves of the body. It seeks to make the wearer attractive. It might be seen as a party dress or something to wear at an informal celebration." But the panel ruled that wearing the dress could not amount to "conduct of a sexual nature".
Miss Lemes told how she was pestered for sex by customers at the bar shortly after starting work in May last year.
The tribunal ruled: "In our judgment, the effect of requiring her to wear the dress was to violate her dignity. We further consider that it created for her an environment which was degrading, humiliating and offensive." It pointed out that a summer uniform of "brightly coloured, figure-hugging garb" had not been introduced for male waiting staff.
But the tribunal rejected Miss Lemes' claim of constructive dismissal. The company's lawyer Tom Grady told the tribunal: "There is no evidence to support the suggestion that it is a sex club or some sort of seedy brothel."