A woman whose boss slapped her bottom with a ruler during a meeting has won £90,000 after settling her sexual harassment claim.

The woman, who has not been named to protect her identity, was told to stand up and turn around by a male manager during the meeting at a firm in Northern Ireland last year.

He then slapped her on the bottom with a ruler in front of another male manager.

The manager who slapped her laughed and said: “I’m sorry, I had to.”

The woman, who eventually quit her job in protest at her treatment, looked at the other male manager and asked: “Is that allowed?”

Both men treated it as a joke, telling other employees arriving at the meeting what had happened.

The woman said she felt so humiliated and embarrassed that she could not initially tell her mother or her boyfriend, and she refused to return to work until the matter was addressed.

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She turned down the offer of a coffee shop meeting with a more senior manager and the manager who slapped her because she thought it was inappropriate.

The manager involved subsequently resigned and did not work his full notice.

When the woman raised a grievance, it took her employer 10 days to respond and five weeks to investigate.

The employer’s inquiry upheld her grievance but also accused her of dressing and behaving provocatively, which she strongly denied.

After appealing against the findings, she resigned

The woman felt the allegations were further harassment and that the company was blaming her and treating her as a “troublemaker”.

Geraldine McGahey, head of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), called it a “shocking” case which highlighted a “toxic laddish culture that shows scant respect for female colleagues”.

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