Scotsman.com reports that a British office manager has told an employment tribunal of the ongoing gay harassment he received from his office. This would be simply sad were it nor for the fact that the description of it (the chair of the tribunal is named Vivienne Gay!) reads like an episode of Monty Python:
Mr Whitfield, of Colchester, Essex, was today being cross-examined over his claims at an employment tribunal in Stratford, east London.
One of his complaints referred to a meal at a medieval-style ball during a national sales conference at Coombe Abbey, Coventry, in March last year.
In his witness statement, Mr Whitfield said that he was called a “queen” when he sat in an “ornate throne chair”.
He added: “Although I was not alone in sitting in one of these chairs I was the only one who received these comments.
“I had started to expect comments, but just as I grew more expectant of one type of insult, harder hitting abuse followed.”
The tribunal heard today that on that occasion he had ordered a Kir Royale cocktail made of champagne and creme de cassis.
Christopher Coney, for his former employers, said: “If you had ordered a glass of beer, no-one would have said anything about you being a queen.”
Mr Whitfield replied: “So I should drink beer, then?”
Mr Coney put it that the remarks referred to the throne on which he was sitting.
But the chair of the tribunal, Vivienne Gay, said a more appropriate comment would have been “king” in that case.
She added: “Had it been me, then maybe someone could have commented ’queen’ without it being offensive, but the reference to him would have been, wouldn’t it?”
It was at this same conference that Mr Whitfield said he was forced by sales and marketing director Paul Jackson to wear a T-shirt bearing bright pink lettering during a presentation in front of more than 60 colleagues.
Meanwhile, a gay British darts team says they’ve experienced similar taunts.
