Woman wins £37,000 after boss dismissed her menopause symptoms as what 'a biddy' gets
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An office manager from Scotland has received more than £37,000 in compensation after her 'dinosaur' boss said her menopause was an 'excuse for everything'.
Karen Farquharson was accused by company founder Jim Clark, 72, of 'strolling in' when it suited her and to just 'just get on with it' when she explained her menopause symptoms.
The 49-year-old - who joined Peterhead engineering company Thistle Marine in 1995 - was left so distressed by the remarks that she resigned from her £38,000-a-year job.
The mother-of-two said: "I had known this company for 27 years and they treated me like rubbish.
"Mr Clark didn't like change. He didn't like being challenged on things.
"He didn't move with the times. I tried to explain some issues in what you can say and what you can't say and it just fell on deaf ears."
The tribunal heard: "Over the years working with the company [Mrs Farquharson] had observed that Jim Clark had an issue with employees taking holidays or being off ill.
"Mr Jim Clark was blunt by nature. He would speak his mind. Mr Clark would often refer to employees who were off sick as 'snowflakes'."
In August 2021, Farquharson was suffering from serious menopausal bleeding and the company paid for her to have a private assessment of her condition.
"The menopause badly impacted on [her]," the tribunal heard.
By the autumn of 2022, she was also suffering from anxiety, a loss of concentration and brain fog.
In December of that year, Farquharson - then aged 48 - worked from home for two days, at first because of heavy snow and then because she was unwell due to 'heavy menopausal bleeding'.
The next day she went in, arriving at 2pm.
"She entered the premises and went to her office," the tribunal heard. "She passed Jim Clark in the corridor. He spoke to her in a sarcastic tone: 'Oh I see you’ve made it in!'
"[Mrs Farquharson] began to explain why she hadn’t been in the office earlier that week. She mentioned the snow and also that the day before she had heavy menopausal bleeding.
"Mr Clark gave her a disgusted look and then walked away towards the workshop.
"[Mrs Farquharson] was very upset and angry at his behaviour and the implication that she did not have good reason to have not been at work earlier in the week."
After confronting him, 'Jim Clark interrupted and accused [her] of "strolling" in and out of work whenever it pleased her and doing what she pleased'.
"He also questioned the number of days off she’d taken that year including holidays," the tribunal heard.
"He then said 'menopause, menopause a ’biddy f**king get’s it, just get on wi’ it, that’s your excuse for everything'."
He later said of the menopause: "A biddy has aches and pains."
Karen has now been awarded £37,379.56 in compensation after successfully suing her old boss' firm for unfair dismissal and harassment.
LADbible has contacted Thistle Marine for comment.
