A sales assistant from Belfast, Northern Island has received a £35,000 sexual harassment settlement against her employers, Telefonica UK Ltd. that run the O2 phone store in which she used to work.
Natasha McCullough claimed that she had been the victim of sexual harassment at the hands of her line manager over a period of eight months, from January till August of 2016.
In a statement to the press, Ms. McCullough spoke of the horrific, physical symptoms of stress and anxiety that she began to develop as a result of the trauma from the attacks.
'I had a lot of painful and unsightly physical symptoms of stress, breathing difficulties and, eventually, panic attacks and I felt frightened, powerless and vulnerable.'
McCullough reported the incidents of inappropriate behavior and harassment to the firm when it first began. However, she later told the court that she did not believe that her claims were taken seriously, forcing the sales assistant to take on sick leave before resigning from her post entirely.
'I felt that I was being isolated because I had complained about the behaviour.'* *said McCullough.
Telefonica UK. Ltd paid out the full settlement of £35,000 in order to put an end to the court proceedings.
The digital communications company offered Ms. McCullough an apology for any 'injury to feelings, distress and upset caused' but did not explicitly admit any liability on their part.
However, Telefonica did agree to liaise closely with the Equality Commission who helped McCullough with her case, with a view to prevent similar cases in the future.
The firm said they will begin equality training all their staff, including district and line managers on what classes as appropriate work place behavior and coach employees on the various clauses of the Sexual Discrimination Act (1976).
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.