Scottish woman wins legal battle against her abusive former employer

Representational image (Thrive Global)

A Scottish woman, who was subjected to verbal abuse by her former employer, has won a £19,000 payout after an employment tribunal ruled in her favour, reports have stated.

35-year-old Aishah Zaman informed the tribunal that her boss, Shahzad Younas, 45, called her ‘fatty’ and ‘prostitute’. She added that she was the target of multiple sexual advances and got derogatory comments from her boss while she was employed as an as office assistant at Knightsbridge Furnishing in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire.

Younas, who is also a political activist in Pakistan, gave her unsolicited advice to go workout at the gym as he wanted ‘slim, smart girls’ in his office. He also told her not to work as a DJ for Awaz FM, a local radio station for Glasgow’s Asian community , as it was the ‘work of prostitutes’.

Zaman also revealed that Younas was a ‘bully’ and treated his employees like slaves. He would send her messages, asking her to not break his heart as he liked her, and even offered to buy her a Mercedes.

The tribunal heard that he would send graphic pictures of female genitalia and had asked her to come over to his flat to help him unpack his suitcase, including his underwear.

In April 2020, things hit the fan when Zaman told him that she was too busy to rearrange an office, which led to him losing his cool and yelling at her. He proceeded to all her an ‘idiot’ and a ‘pain in the a**e’.

Later, Zaman said, that he grabbed her by both the arms and said, “I am going to f*** you”.

After this incident, he sacked her, resigned as director and sold the firm.

“I couldn’t let him get away with this. I’ve never seen a man like that in my life, he was just a bully. He only ever wanted to work with ladies and saw his employees as slaves. He would look at their appearance first rather than what they could or couldn’t do,” Zaman told the tribunal.

She added that her employment at the company from July 2018 to April 2020 had adversely affected her mental health and the legal battle has cost her more than £10,000.

Younas claimed that Zaman had embezzled £17,718 from the company, and was willing to withdraw it if she dropped her complaint.

Employment judge Russell Bradley ruled in Zaman’s favour and held Younas and the company jointly responsible for the discrimination she had faced.

According to reports, legal representatives for Younas and the company backed out before the case was concluded.

Sameer Khan, current director of Knightsbridge Furnishing, said, “We had closed trading business due to losses in May 2022 and informed the employment tribunal of the same. We are sorry as we are out of business so we are not able to pay any claims.”

Zaman was awarded £18,984 by the tribunal but is yet to receive the payment from her former employer.