IT saleswoman wins $245,000 sex discrimination payout: Jobs - News Trends

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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IT saleswoman wins $245,000 sex discrimination payout

By Andy McCue, silicon.com
January 04, 2005
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/jobs/news_trends/soa/IT-saleswoman-wins-245-000-sex-discrimination-payout/0,130056653,139176154,00.htm

Oracle has been ordered to pay an IT sales executive almost Ã,Â£100,000 (AU$245,185) in compensation after losing a sex discrimination case that exposed a "boys club" culture at the software firm.

US-born Karen Carlucci, an IT sales account manager at the company's Reading-based UK headquarters for 10 years, won the sex discrimination case at an employment tribunal earlier this year after she was subjected to sexist emails and sexist behaviour from her male bosses and was demoted after bringing a formal complaint.

At a compensation hearing at Reading employment tribunal earlier this year, Carlucci wanted Ã,Â£370,000 (AU$906,852) in damages related to loss of earnings, claiming the stigma of a sex discrimination case and her age would prevent her from getting a similar position within a new company.

But the tribunal this week ruled that loss of earnings could only be claimed up until Carlucci's decision to relocate to Utah in the US with her family in December 2003, six months after being dismissed from Oracle.

Based on her annual basic salary of Ã,Â£62,500 (AU$153,210) and average commission of Ã,Â£132,204 (AU$324,080) the tribunal awarded Carlucci a total of Ã,Â£98,206 (AU$240,738) for that period she was out of work in the UK. The figure also included costs for aggravated damages and unfair dismissal.

Oracle's behaviour towards Carlucci and its conduct during the hearings was heavily criticised by the tribunal chairman Richard Byrne.

The final judgement document said: "The decision to demote her was taken at a senior level and was a response to her having issued proceedings in the tribunal claim of sex discrimination against the respondent. The defence of the proceedings was deliberately intended by the respondent's to be intimidatory and cause the maximum unease and distress to the applicant."

But the tribunal did not enforce one of Carlucci's demands that the board of directors at Oracle make a public apology for the treatment she suffered. The tribunal said that as Oracle had never admitted liability and was appealing the initial decision it would be inappropriate at this time.