Two female gym workers have been given £20,000 after a gym boss said he would never hire a woman as a manager because they "just ramble on" and are "too emotional".
The North Shields tribunal heard that Sophie Veitch was subjected to "sweeping, derogatory" statements. Another woman, Miss Sobihy, also launched a claim against the company.
Gym boss Kris Whitelaw, 36, joined Energie Fitness in 2018. After only two weeks, he told his colleague Sophie that "he did not believe women should be in management positions".
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He then claimed women "just ramble on and are too emotional in meetings" and they "go off on a tangent."
Sophie worked as a general manager at the time and she notified her superiors about Kris's comments. However, Kris "categorically" denied that he ever made the remarks.
Operations director, Andy Evans, said Kris was spoken to about his remarks.
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In October, all the general managers at Energie Fitness became redundant and had to re-apply for their jobs after a restructure at Stessa Leisure, the company in charge of Energie Fitness.
Female workers raised concerns after it was revealed that Kris would be carrying out the interviews during the re-application process. By the end of the week, three men had been offered jobs and all of them were interviewed and appointed by Kris.
Sophie also spoke to Andy about Facebook messages sent by Kris, who no longer works for the company. The message read: "OMG Sophie - just seen the wedding pics! Didn't realise you could look so stunning - clearly must be a filter - plus Matty is well punching."
Kris defended the message, claiming they it was "banter".
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Sophie succeeded in her claims of harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal. However, her claim of direct discrimination by way of dismissal and victimisation were not successful. The tribunal ruled that Stessa Leisure must pay her £13,574.33.
Sobihy succeeded in her claim of harassment however her complaints of discrimination and victimisation were dismissed. The tribunal ruled that Stessa Leusure must pay her £5,957.54.
Featured Image Credit: Kris Whitelaw