Recruiter loses discrimination case as sex life boast backfires

A recruitment consultant boasted about her “gold star” sex life with her boyfriend in a bid to embarrass colleagues and stop them from harassing her.
Charlotte Tilley claimed that she displayed edited photos of naked male torsos on her work laptop and kissed another woman at an office party in an attempt to shock co-workers who were allegedly gossiping about her relationship with the company’s learning and development trainer.
When bosses at an office of Gravitas Recruitment Group challenged Tilley about her behaviour, she claimed that she was trying to make colleagues uncomfortable so they would stop asking her about her sex life. But managers at the international company — which specialises in technology and insurance recruitment — launched a disciplinary investigation, which prompted Tilley to resign.
Tilley, who is in her late twenties, sued for sex discrimination and victimisation but an employment tribunal has dismissed her claim on the grounds that she had “a high tolerance of matters of a sexual nature”.
Tilley joined Gravitas in 2022 and at that year’s office Christmas party she was seen to have “kissed another woman in full view of others”. The hearing in Manchester was told that after that incident, Tilley claimed that two colleagues asked her at work whether she was bisexual, which she confirmed, but she later said that the discussion made her uncomfortable.
One of her colleagues, Cleopatra Mabena, said in evidence that Tilley had instigated the conversation and told colleagues that “she had been matching with girls on a dating app”.
The hearing was also told that Tilley had started a relationship with Kieron Mattinson, a trainer at the company. In its report, the tribunal noted that Tilley claimed that she was asked “a barrage of questions by colleagues, such as, ‘What is he like in bed? Was he Johnny Depp?’” to which she replied that she did not want to discuss it.
Tilley said that after persistent questioning from colleagues, she told them: “What do you think the gold stars are for?” — referring to gold-star stickers on her computer. “She claimed this comment was made in an attempt to make them feel uncomfortable and stop the unwanted questions,” the tribunal noted.
Tilley claimed that she had hoped to “shut them up” by “shocking” them but managers said that her language was“neither appropriate nor professional”.
Bosses at the company also allegedly received complaints about Tilley having “suggestively” hugged a male colleague.
The company’s management launched an investigation into allegations that Tilley had made “unacceptable sexual comments”, viewed “inappropriate imagery during working hours” and showed colleagues “an inappropriate video”.
In one instance, colleagues related that Tilley had shown them a video on her phone of her having sex with an ex-boyfriend.
Rejecting Tilley’s claims for discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal, Liz Ord, the judge, said that the employee had “participated in conversations of a sexual nature, including discussing her sexual relationships with her colleagues”.
She added: “She used explicit language and had images of naked male torsos on her computer screen saver. She had a high tolerance of matters of a sexual nature.”