Female manager 'taunted for being too attractive'

Female manager 'taunted for being too attractive'. An American Express manager told yesterday how she was taunted by her boss for being young and attractive.

Vanessa Brennan, 32, who earned more than £50,000 a year, was told she was 'less viable in the workplace' because of her good looks.

And her line manager Michael Rutter piled on the pressure when she became pregnant, making her work more than 80 hours a week, an industrial tribunal heard.

When she went on maternity leave he presented her with a book from the staff which he claimed was called '101 Things To Do With a Dead Baby'.

The real title was '97 Ways To Make A Baby Laugh'.

Mrs Brennan, from Chelsea, who worked as a product manager for Europe, is claiming sexual discrimination by Mr Rutter and sexual discrimination and constructive dismissal by Amex as his employers.

Her barrister Kate Gallafent told Croydon Employment Tribunal that between September 1998 and July 2000, Mr Rutter put her under such stress she almost miscarried.

An internal investigation by Amex found that Mr Rutter had committed eight acts of sexual discrimination against her and he resigned shortly afterwards.

Miss Gallafent said Mr Rutter had told her client: 'You need to understand from the outset that you are a young, attractive female, which on this floor means that you have limited credibility'.

After she became pregnant, he told her: 'I am telling you, you are making a very bad decision about announcing your pregnancy, because you know how chauvinistic most of the men out there are and I wanted to give you breathing space to prove yourself before they make a judgment about your pregnancy.'

Mrs Brennan said Mr Rutter made her work long hours throughout her pregnancy, even though she told him the stress was putting her baby's health at risk.

She told the tribunal: 'I would sometimes go home doubled up in pain due to the stress I was under.

'Some weekends when I was not working I would spend the entire time in bed due to the pain and exhaustion.'

She claimed: 'From the moment I told Mr Rutter about my pregnancy, his attitude changed permanently for the worse.

'His attitude, tone and the way he treated me changed and he became even more rude and aggressive than he had been previously.'

When she informed Mr Rutter she was pregnant, she claims he said: 'I thought you were a career woman. I was obviously wrong.'

She claimed there was 'a culture of sexism' within Corporate Services Europe and that Mr Rutter's views, though extreme, were viewed as acceptable within that male-dominated environment.

'A view appeared to have been taken that Mr Rutter was an exceptional marketer and that his attitudes and treatment of employees was acceptable as long as his performance remained at a high standard,' she said. Mr Rutter's barrister, Witold Pawlak, said his client denied sexual discrimination.

He said: 'Mrs Brennan suffered no discrimination, no detriment as a consequence of pregnancy. In fact, it was quite the reverse, he was promoting her.'

Amex's internal investigation agreed that when Mrs Brennan returned from maternity leave her boss reduced her performance rating because she had taken time off.

Mrs Brennan also claims Amex failed to pay her return to work bonus.

Amex's barrister, David Scorey, said the firm had acted on the discrimination claims as soon as it was informed.

He said: 'We took reasonable practical steps to stop these incidents happening. If an employer takes these steps on an errant employee, and that employee continues to discriminate, the employer should not be liable.'

The hearing was adjourned until today. ( dailymail.co.uk )