Two X's don't make a wrong, in employment case

AN IT worker sued her "rich and powerful" male boss for sexual harassment after he marked parts of an email where he wanted more information with "XX" - which she thought were kisses.

Project manager Karina Gasparova also claimed Aleksander Goulandris's use of question marks in the message was code for asking when she would be "ready to engage in sexual acts."

Mr Goulandris had emailed Ms Gasparova for information on a project, and used XX, YY and ???? written in red to indicate what details he required her to fill in.

Ms Gasparova took her employer essDOCS, a paperless documents firm, to the tribunal claiming sexual harassment.

A judge threw out her case ruling she has a "skewed perception of everyday events" and regularly misinterpreted "innocuous" interactions. Among some of the other "innocent" incidents where Ms Gasparova found a "sinister motive" was an incident where she thought a file renamed AJG - her boss's initials - was an abbreviation for A Jumbo Genital.

Held in central London, the tribunal heard Ms Gasparova started working in the capital at essDOCS in November 2019 as an IT project manager. Mr Goulandris was then chief executive. The panel heard that Ms Gasparova told bosses she thought Mr Goulandris wanted to have a sexual relationship with her, but because she had "rejected his advances" he was treating her badly.

She submitted a detailed grievance in April 2021 but her allegations were dismissed. She lost an appeal in May 2021, so she resigned.

She told the panel that Mr Goulandris's conduct had not been "overt" as a "rich and powerful man" and "a man in his position would be too clever" to make obvious moves. The panel ruled that this meant her case "rested on interpreting seemingly innocent interactions" between Mr Goulandris and herself and "finding a sinister motive in them".

"We considered her perception of everyday events was skewed," said employment Judge Emma Burns. Ms Gasparova was ordered to pay £5,000 to essDOCS after failing to comply with tribunal procedures.