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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Playing 'snog, marry, avoid' with colleagues at work could be sexual harassment and may breach the Equality Act, judge rules
Playing 'snog, marry, avoid' with work colleagues could be sexual harassment, a tribunal has ruled. The risqué quiz involves naming three people and then asking a person to pick which one you would like to kiss, which one you would get married to and which one you would steer clear of altogether. It has appeared in popular culture, including in BBC hit comedy Gavin and Stacey, when Pam, Mick, Gavin and Smithy played a version of it featuring celebrities during a car ride from Essex to Wales. However an Employment Judge has said the game may breach the Equality Act. The ruling came in the case of a police officer who sued Derbyshire Police after a female colleague involved him in a game - using images of sex workers. The officer admitted to the tribunal that she had 'jokingly' played the game with co-workers and included PC Shafarat Mohammed in their discussion. Employment Judge Stephen Shore suggested that the officers may have referred to the game, which has several names, by a cruder version. PC Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022 he was only shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was 'embarrassed' and 'offended' by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate. Another officer at Pear Tree Station in Derby, PC Kate Northridge, candidly admitted to the hearing in Nottingham that a group of officers played the game with suspect photos. She said she had been the one to include PC Mohammed in the game but she had not asked him specific questions about any of the images. Speaking about snog, marry, avoid, EJ Shore said: 'The game was crass and inappropriate. 'It casts no one who participated in it in a good light. EJ Shore said it was possible 'that the conduct that is agreed could constitute harassment of a sexual nature'. However, he added 'no such claim was made' by PC Mohammed, who had launched his claim for racial discrimination and not sexual harassment. 'We agree with [him] that the questions were inappropriate,' EJ Shore added. The tribunal heard that PC Mohammed joined the force in November 2021 and completed his training in March the next year. He resigned less than a year later, in September 2022, and then made an employment tribunal claim for racial discrimination and harassment. The tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities. They also concluded that he was not asked questions about a specific black sex worker and that his credibility was undermined by a lack of consistency between his different accounts. PC Mohammed made several allegations including that a colleague called him a 'road man', he was 'humiliated' for eating home-made food, and told he was 'shit'. The officer also claimed that another PC said the custody team was 'all black and ethnics', he was asked about his familiarity with alcohol, and that he had been ostracised from team events. However, the tribunal found these allegations were either entirely fabricated by PC Mohammed or were given 'a retrospective gloss of alleged discrimination' in his witness statements which often contradicted each other.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Ex-police officer loses discrimination case over ‘snog, marry, avoid' game
A former police officer was asked by a colleague to take part in a game of 'snog, marry, avoid' using images of sex workers and criminal suspects, a tribunal has heard. Shafarat Mohammed attempted to sue Derbyshire police for racial discrimination and harassment after he was asked to take part in the game by a fellow officer. The quiz involves naming three people and then asking a person to pick which one you would like to kiss, which one you would marry, and which one you would avoid. Employment judge Stephen Shore said playing the game in the workplace could amount to sexual harassment and may breach the Equality Act, adding that the officers might have referred to the game – which has several names – by a cruder version. But ultimately Mohammed lost the case as he did not make a claim of sexual harassment and his other complaints were dismissed. Shore said: 'The 'game' was crass and inappropriate. It casts no one who participated in it in a good light. It is possible that the conduct that is agreed could constitute harassment of a sexual nature … no such claim was made by [Mohammed].' Mohammed's colleague PC Kate Northridge admitted to the tribunal that she had 'jokingly' played the game with co-workers and included Mohammed in their discussion. Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022 he was only shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was embarrassed and offended by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate. Northridge, his colleague at Pear Tree station in Derby, admitted to the hearing in Nottingham that a group of officers played the game using photos of suspects. She said she had been the one to include Mohammed in the game but she had not asked him specific questions about any of the images. The tribunal heard that Mohammed joined the force in November 2021 and completed his training in March the following year. He resigned less than a year later – in September 2022 – and then made an employment tribunal claim for racial discrimination and harassment. The tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities. Mohammed, a Pakistani-heritage Muslim, lost his case for racial and religious discrimination and harassment.
