A female surveyor who was sacked after her boss’s fianceé wrongly accused her of sleeping with her husband-to-be has been awarded nearly £110,000 in a sex harassment case.
Debbie Jacka was left ‘distressed and humiliated’ when she was told by Peter Ellicock that she had to be ‘extra nice’ to suspicious girlfriend Emma Rowson, who believed they were having an affair.
He told the 43-year-old married mother-of-one he could no longer go on appointments with her, talk to her about non-work matters or meet with her outside of the office as his wife was ‘not comfortable’ with them being together alone.
An employment tribunal heard that just a few months later, Mr Ellicock fired Ms Jacka from her £60,000 job, saying it was obvious that the two women ‘despised’ each other.
After representing herself at a five day hearing and successfully suing him and his firm for sex harassment and victimisation, she has been awarded £109,000 compensation.
The hearing in Exeter, Devon, was told that prior to this falling out, Ms Jacka and Mr Ellicock had owned an estate agents in Cornwall together and had enjoyed a ‘close and harmonious professional relationship’ for around six years.
‘There was no relationship of a romantic or sexual nature between them at any point,’ the tribunal said.
In April 2021 she joined a surveying firm he had set up – called Steren – as a director, shareholder and trainee surveyor.
At the time, Mr Ellicock was in a relationship with Ms Rowson, who is now his wife.
‘Early in the summer, Mr Ellicock confided in [Mrs Jacka] regarding his relationship with Mrs Ellicock, referring to jealousy and trust issues,’ the tribunal heard.
‘He told [her] that Mrs Ellicock was not happy with the amount of time Mr Ellicock and [she] worked together on appointments, but said that it was working well for the company so would continue.’
The tribunal heard that in August 2021 Ms Jacka and Mr Ellicock spent most of the day together undertaking homebuyer surveys.
‘Mrs Ellicock became unhappy, because Mr Ellicock was not answering his phone,’ the tribunal heard. ‘Mr Ellicock told [Ms Jacka] that she did not trust him.’
On the evening of 9 August 2021, Mrs Ellicock accused Mr Ellicock of having an affair with Ms Jacka, the tribunal heard.
The next day he told Ms Jacka, who lives with her husband and five-year-old daughter in St Agnes, what his partner suspected.
‘He told [her] that she could not discuss their conversation or the accusation with Mrs Ellicock,’ the tribunal heard. ‘He said that [Ms Jacka] should be extra nice to her.
‘[Ms Jacka] felt distressed and humiliated at this accusation, which she considered to be very serious and clearly untrue.
‘Mr Ellicock told her that he could no longer go out on appointments with her, talk to her about non-work matters or meet with her outside of the office, because Mrs Ellicock was not comfortable with him doing so.’
The tribunal found that from September, Ms Jacka started going on site visits on her own.
‘The Tribunal considered that the reason for this sudden change in approach was Mrs Ellicock’s suspicion regarding an affair,’ it said.
The hearing was told that following this, Mr Ellicock lost his temper with Ms Jacka at work on two occasions, which the tribunal found was related to his wife’s suspicions.
‘The explanation for Mr Ellicock’s behaviour was the background pressure being put on him by Mrs Ellicock, which meant after a long and harmonious working relationship, he was now treating [Ms Jacka] in this manner which was intended to be hostile towards her,’ the panel said.
He also sent her ‘hostile, offensive and sexist’ messages, the tribunal found, driven by the ‘suggestion of an affair’.
On 11 November 2021 Mr Ellicock called her into a meeting and told her that the quality of her work was not good enough.
‘Clearly you and Emma despise each other,’ the tribunal heard he said. ‘I can’t work with you any more’.
Mr Ellicock and partner Jason Mr Ratcliffe then offered to buy her shares in exchange for her resignation as a director saying they would shut down the Redruth-based company if she did not agree.
The following year, when he discovered Ms Jacka was suing him, his wife and the company for discrimination, he reported her for alleged mortgage fraud in relation to a reference letter he had written for her, the hearing was told.
Upholding Ms Jacka’s claims of sex harassment in relation to the ‘affair’ and her dismissal, the tribunal said Mr Ellicock had ‘violated’ her dignity and had created an ‘intimidating, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment’ for her.
Mr Ellicock was also found to have victimised her by reporting her for mortgage fraud, which the tribunal said was motivated by her discrimination claim.
As a result, she was awarded £109,061 compensation.