Calling men bald is sex harassment, judge rules

Insulting a man by calling him "bald" is sex harassment, a panel of balding judges has ruled.

In a landmark judgment, an employment tribunal found that because men are more likely to lose their hair than women, using the term to describe someone is a form of discrimination.

In their finding the judges suggested that mocking a man’s baldness was equivalent to remarking on the size of a woman’s breasts.

The ruling - made by a panel of three men who bemoaned their own lack of hair - came in a case between electrician Tony Finn and his manufacturing firm employers.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Finn said he hoped the judgement would stop other men being "verbally assaulted and intimidated because they are bald".

Mr Finn worked for the West Yorkshire-based British Bung Company for almost 24 years before he was fired in May last year.

After the 64-year-old was sacked, he took the company to the tribunal claiming, among other things, that he had been the victim of sex harassment following an incident with factory supervisor Jamie King.

Mr Finn alleged that during a shop floor row in July 2019, Mr King referred to him as a "bald c***".

'Mr King crossed the line'

The allegation resulted in the panel - consisting of Judge Jonathan Brain, David Dorman-Smith and Keith Lannaman - deliberating on whether remarking on his baldness was simply insulting or actually harassment.

Mr Finn had not complained about the use of the "Anglo Saxon language", but was "affronted" at being called bald, the panel said.

"This is strong language. Although, as we find, industrial language was commonplace on this West Yorkshire factory floor, in our judgment Mr King crossed the line by making remarks personal to the claimant about his appearance."

A lawyer for the British Bung Company said that the remark was not sexist because both men and women can be bald.

However, the tribunal dismissed this argument and said: "As all three members of the Tribunal will vouchsafe, baldness is much more prevalent in men than women.

"We find it to be inherently related to sex."

Remark made 'with a view to hurting the claimant'

To illustrate their point, the panel noted the findings of a previous tribunal where a man was found to have sexually harassed a woman by remarking on the size of her breasts.

"It is much more likely that a person on the receiving end of a comment such as that which was made in (that) case would be female," the tribunal said.

"So too, it is much more likely that a person on the receiving end of a remark such as that made by Mr King would be male.

"Mr King made the remark with a view to hurting the claimant by commenting on his appearance which is often found amongst men."

The tribunal heard that after the confrontation Mr Finn had written a statement about the incident with his son Robert, who was a police officer, on official West Yorkshire Police paper.

When this was handed to his bosses at the firm they at first believed he had reported the incident as a crime.

'Violation of the claimant's dignity'

Mr Finn said it was not his intention to make the statement appear like an official police document. However, the firm accused him of attempted intimidation and fired him for misconduct.

In its conclusion, the panel said: "By referring to [Mr Finn] as a 'bald c***'... Mr King's conduct was unwanted, it was a violation of the claimant's dignity, it created an intimidating environment for him, it was done for that purpose, and it related to [Mr Finn's] sex."

The tribunal upheld Mr Finn’s claims of unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, being subjected to detriments and sex harassment.

Mr Finn's compensation will be determined at a later date.

Speaking after the tribunal’s conclusion, Mr Finn said: "I hope my win helps to stop other men being insulted and verbally attacked because they are bald.

"Losing my hair wasn’t something that really bothered me, but the individual who was insulting me really scared me."

The British Bung Company said it was "surprised" by the employment tribunal's comments.