Eine Kollegin zu fragen, ob sie in den Wechseljahren sei, „ist keine Belästigung“, urteilt das Gericht | Tägliche Post online

So calling a bald man bald is harassment, but getting upset and asking a woman if she’s on the menopause isn’t?

Guess as long as they didn’t ask if she had hysteria it’s ok?

Sounds like we need an addition to the rule „Never ask a man his salary, or a woman her age“. Or „conduct yourself like a decent person“ would be a good one too.

‚is someone going through the change?‘

This wasn’t a case of someone asking in order to support a colleague. There is nothing good faith about this phrasing, it is belittling and it’s a disgrace that the judgement did not accept that.

I’m laughing at all the comments here and in The Daily Fail [sic] where it’s evident 99% didn’t actually read the article. 

Okay, so it is a bit more nuanced than the headline suggests (as always). If she was being open about her symptoms in order to encourage openness around menopause, then theoretically it should have been okay for peers to raise it when contextually appropriate.

But language matters. „The change?“. Fucks sake. „How is your descent into crone-hood going?“

Apply common sense, nobody gets hurt or upset.

Oh look, another nonsense headline from a British newspaper about a tribunal case.

(First-tier) Employment tribunal cases are highly fact-specific, and do not set any kind of precedent. It would be embarrassingly unprofessional for a national newspaper to make a headline suggesting a tribunal ruling had some broad meaning or application if our newspapers were capable of embarrassment or self-reflection.

The full judgment is [here](https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/ms-l-waller-v-swann-engineering-group-ltd-6017991-slash-2024) for those interested. It is 30 pages.

The tribunal did not rule that „asking a female colleague if they are going through menopause is not harassment.“ The tribunal ruled that *in this case*, *in these specific circumstances*, a person asking their employee about going through menopause was not harassment.

Those circumstances including being in an office situation where there was a history of open and honest discussion about menopause, where the person being asked had shared information about undergoing tests relating to menopause and the results of it, among other things.

Specifically, the tribunal found that while the questions were „insensitive and upsetting“ they did not have „the purpose or the effect of violating the Claimant’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the Claimant.“

As always with these cases, this ruling doesn’t mean you can go around asking employees about menopause. It doesn’t mean you cannot. It will be fact-specific.

For completeness, she won her case on constructive dismissal and victimisation, just not on harassment.

So calling a man ‚bald‘ is a no no. But talking to a woman about her reproductive organs is alright?

What zee fuck.

“The tribunal found that Ms Waller was not visibly upset by the first comment, and that this was why Mr Gregory made a similar comment later on the same day.”

Translation: Woman held it together in public when humiliated by male colleague, so he, proud of his little joke, came back for another go later on.

I hope he’s slapped in the face by every woman he ever meets in future. Condescending little prick.

In what way is even asking that of someone necessary?

By that extension any male colleague you can just tell them „you must be going through your midlife crisis“ or „oh you must have the male menopause“

This just seems like an excuse to justify workplace sexism