A panel wirer who was prevented from applying for a job because she was a woman was awarded £7,000 compensation, the Equal Opportunities Commission has announced.
An Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed an appeal, lodged by Roselec Ltd against the Employment Tribunal's decision. However, Ms Cashmore has yet to receive any compensation from Roselec as the company has gone into voluntary insolvency.
Ms Cashmore won her sex discrimination claim in January 1999 against Roselec Ltd – an engineering company, and Anystaff Recruitment Ltd - an employment agency. She had approached the agency about a vacancy for a panel wirer with Roselec. But the agency was subsequently told by Roselec that there was no such vacancy and that the work was of a heavy nature, for which a man would be more suitable. When Ms Cashmore asked an employee of Anystaff Recruitment to provide a statement in support of her application to the tribunal he refused to do so. Anystaff have paid her the compensation they owed.
Julie Mellor, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said:
"The discrimination Ms Cashmore experienced was clearly based on outdated preconceptions about what kinds of work women are capable of doing. This is an example of how sex stereotyping leads to wasted talent and unfulfilled potential.
"The EOC believes that each individual's ability to do any particular job should be the only basis on which they are judged.
"Opening up different roles and opportunities to women and men will not only benefit individuals but also the economy - closing skills gaps and providing employers with a larger pool of potential employees."
Ms Cashmore, who represented herself when she first took the case to tribunal, said:
"I know that I am good at my job and I felt it was very unfair that I wasn't even considered for a position simply because I was a woman. I was determined to challenge the way I had been treated, and I hope other people will feel able to do the same."
Ms Cashmore was awarded just over £1,000 for loss of earnings, and an award of £3,000 by each of the two respondents for injury to feelings.
