- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Karen Farquharson, 49, was allegedly humiliated by her 72-year-old employer over her menopausal symptoms.
By: Shubham Ghosh
A PROFESSIONAL from Scotland has been provided with a compensation of £37,000 after her boss commented that her menopause was an “excuse for everything”, BBC reported.
Forty-nine-year-old Karen Farquharson has accused Jim Clark, the 72-year-old founder of her engineering company Thistle Marine of asking her to “just get on with it” after she failed to join work due to ill health caused by her symptoms.
An employment tribunal was told that Clark, managing director of the firm based in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, overlooked her problem as “aches and pains”.
Farquharson was so distressed by the remark that she quit the company with which she had been associated since 1995. She was earning £38,000 a year with the firm, the BBC added.
Calling Clark a “dinosaur” who didn’t have a grasp on charges in the modern workplace, Farquharson said the company “treated her like rubbish”.
She also said that her former boss was opposed to changes and didn’t like being challenged on things. She also said that she tried to explain some issues in what one could or could not say but it fell on deaf ears.
Clark had founded Thistle Marine, which works in the oil and fishing industries, in the late 1970s.
The tribunal in Aberdeen was told that Clark accused Farquharson of “strolling in” as per convenience and had minor annoyance towards people not turning up, the BBC report added.
It also heard that Clark was blunt by nature and would call employees who were sick as ‘snowflakes’.
Two years ago in August, Farquharson reportedly told her employees that she had menopause and was having “serious symptoms”.
The company paid for her to have a private examination of her health. She was suffering from anxiety, was having a loss of concentration and brain fog besides bleeding.
Last year in December, she worked form home for a couple of days because of heavy snowfall and “heavy menopausal bleeding”.
When she went to office the next day, Clark passed a sarcastic comment when they met, telling her “Oh, I see you’ve made it in”, the hearing was told. He also allegedly gave her a “disgusted look” before walking away.
Farquharson felt upset and humiliated.
Clark also dismissed her menopausal symptoms saying everybody has “aches and pains”.
At the tribunal, Clark alleged that his remarks were “innocent” and counter accused Farquharson of trying to get money ahead of her marriage.
“Jim Clark can best be described as a blunt, self-made man and successful businessman. He no doubt has many admirable qualities but empathy for others is not among them,” the panel said even as Thistle Marine’s lawyers tried to prove that Fraquharson’s allegations were unreliable, the BBC report added.
“It became clear to us that he has little time or respect for those, unlike himself, who are not able to work as hard or without illness as he has,” it added.
“His remarks to Ms Farquharson violated her dignity”, the panel concluded.
Farquharson, who now works in accounts at another company, said it was the worst experience of her life.
