It’s been a somewhat turbulent week for Pop Queen Lizzo and her production company, with recent allegations emerging from a number of her touring dance troupe. Three of the dancers from her recent tour have brought a lawsuit in the States which includes allegations of religious/belief and race discrimination, as well as sexual harassment.
The particular allegations include Lizzo pressurising the dancers into attending sex shows and engaging with the shows’ performers while on tour in Europe, for fear that their jobs were at risk if they didn’t oblige her. A second allegation is centred around the dance team’s captain forcing her personal religious beliefs on the dancers and openly criticising one of them on social media for engaging in premarital sex.
Other allegations include both Lizzo and the dance choreographer body-shaming a dancer by questioning her commitment to work after gaining weight. For fans of Lizzo, this sits entirely at odds with the public image she portrays of herself as a champion for women of all shapes and sizes, actively promoting body-confidence and self-love. The dancers allege these comments were only ever made to the dance cast which “comprised of full-figured women of colour”, insinuating that there was an underling issue with racism and fat-phobia.
Discrimination
The lawsuit has been brought in the States which has a different legal system to the UK. However, if an employee were to bring claims of racial and religious discrimination against their employer in the UK, the relevant legislation which an employment tribunal judge would consider is the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act provides protection in the workplace from discrimination in relation to the nine protected characteristics. These nine characteristics include race and religious or philosophical belief, as well as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex and sexual orientation.
Interestingly, “religious or philosophical belief” affords protection to those who have a lack of belief as well. This is important in these circumstances as it was the dancer’s lack of belief conflicting with the dance captain’s Christian beliefs which motivated her to speak publicly.
Direct discrimination would most likely be the claim made here, on the basis that the captain treated the dancer less favourably, because of her lack of religious belief, than she would treat others who held the same Christian values as her. The dancer would have to show (with reference to either a real or hypothetical comparator whose circumstances are not materially different to her’s) that if she did not possess that lack of belief, then the captain would not have tried to push her personal beliefs on to her, nor would she have posted on social media.
Similarly, with the race discrimination allegations, an employee would need to show by comparator that if they were not of a particular race, they would not have been subjected to less favourable treatment. This is somewhat complicated by the comments being in relation to their weight. There have been murmurings in recent years as to whether being overweight or obese should be considered a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act and therefore extending the protections provided under the Act. To date, this view has not been supported in the UK.
Sexual Harassment
With regard to a complaint of sexual harassment, the unwanted behaviour complained of must have either violated the dancer’s dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment for them. It doesn’t matter whether the employer had the intention of causing this effect, the fact that it has caused this reaction is sufficient in itself. Employers have a duty of care to their employees and must do all they can to prevent sexual harassment and protect their employees. A failure to do so may lead to a claim being made for sexual harassment and, if the employee resigns as a result, a claim for constructive dismissal.
Internal Resolution
The dancers who have brought the lawsuit explained they made numerous attempts to handle the matters privately, via way of raising a grievance directly with Lizzo and the production company, however their grievances were never addressed. This highlights the importance of having in place a grievance policy and following it through if an employee raises a concern with you. If employers fail to do so, employees are much more likely to bring a claim in the employment tribunal.
It should be noted that in the UK, if an employer fails to follow the minimum standard set out by ACAS when handling a grievance, a tribunal can award a successful employee up to an additional 25% of any financial award. You can read more about the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures here.
If you would like assistance with reviewing your grievance procedure or require assistance with handling a grievance, contact a member of the employment team on 0131 624 6844.
