A former recruitment consultant who claimed her line manager forced her to have a private lap-dance with him to win business has had her complaint of unfair dismissal thrown out by an employment tribunal, writes Ben Jones.

Rachel Kelly had alleged that her line manager, Danny Whelan of Richmond-based IT specialist IDPP Consulting, had forced her into accepting a private dance with him and the client, at Spearmint Rhino in London in August 2007.

However, witnesses who spoke for the company at the hearing said that, far from being distressed by what had happened, Kelly had been “joking about the incident with everyone in the office and talking about it to other people”.

One witness also told the tribunal that Kelly “even suggested at one point that IDPP should hold an evening’s entertainment there for all staff”.
The London South employment tribunal also heard how another client “became physical” with Kelly following a pub meeting on 30 November 2007.

Kelly, a former consultant in the company’s new business team, resigned in October 2008 after a spell off work with stress. She had been disciplined in April of that year for poor performance.

The tribunal panel, chaired by Judge Gumbiti-Zimuto, dismissed her claims of unfair dismissal, sex discrimination and victimisation, ruling that a man would not have been treated any differently. She was suing both Whelan and the company. No one at IDPP was available for comment.