BY: DM
Published 6 days ago
Sophie Cole, a 46-year-old mail carrier from Cambridge, has won an employment lawsuit case against Royal Mail after years of harassment and discrimination from colleagues.
Cole began living as a woman in 2016 and left a senior role in the finance sector to join Royal Mail in 2017. Instead of finding a fresh start, she says she faced a pattern of transphobic abuse from coworkers. She filed a lawsuit against Royal Mail and won.
Sophie Cole says she faced continuous assaults.
In her lawsuit, Cole reported being called names, mocked with slurs, touched without consent, and physically assaulted, according to Daily Mail. She said someone spat on her van and tampered with its mirrors. Some coworkers mocked her voice in falsetto or burped at her to humiliate her. Cole told Royal Mail management that she felt targeted, unsafe, and “really depressed” by the daily abuse. She filed formal grievances, but she says Royal Mail failed to handle them properly. She says management ignored her early complaint about a colleague’s assault, which encouraged more mistreatment.
After months of unresolved incidents, Cole took her case to an Employment Tribunal in Bury St. Edmunds. Judge Sarah King heard the case over several days in May and June, with a final judgment on Aug. 1. Representing herself, Cole argued that the persistent abuse amounted to unlawful discrimination and harassment based on gender.
The tribunal agreed. It accepted her argument that some abusers targeted her as a woman, not based on her birth sex but on how they perceived her gender. Judge King ruled that because the perpetrator perceived her as a woman during the harassment, Cole qualified as a female victim under the Equality Act.
“This case is believed to be the first of its kind where a trans woman has been recognised as a female victim of harassment based on how she was perceived by her harassers,” Cole said, per Scene Mag. “I’m grateful the judge was willing to interpret the law in a way that reflects the reality of how trans people are treated.”
Royal Mail must pay damages and undergo training.
The tribunal upheld parts of Cole’s claims. It found that she suffered sex-based harassment and discrimination at work, according to Daily Mail. Judge King ruled that some incidents constituted direct sex discrimination and harassment related to sex, in addition to violations under the protected “gender reassignment” category. Cole’s claims of direct discrimination and harassment on gender-reassignment grounds were “successful in part.” The tribunal also upheld one claim of direct sex discrimination and one of sex-related harassment.
Royal Mail was ordered to pay Cole £12,500 ($16,781 USD) in damages, according to court documents. That amount includes £10,000 for injury to feelings and a 25% uplift — about £2,500 ($3,356 USD) — for failing to follow the ACAS Code of Practice when handling her grievances.
The tribunal also ordered protective measures. Royal Mail cannot force Cole to work alongside one instigator, identified as Nick Cavanagh. Several staff members and managers must also complete external training on grievance handling and preventing harassment.
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