IT worker sued boss who marked problems with ‘XX’ as she thought they were kisses
Aleksander Goulandris
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An IT worker sued for sexual harassment after her male boss marked parts of an email where he wanted more information with “XX”.
Karina Gasparova claimed the seemingly innocuous annotations, which were accompanied by "YY and ????", from Aleksander Goulandris were kisses.
The project manager also argued her boss’s use of question marks in the same message were code for asking her when she would be “ready to engage in sexual acts”.
Gasparova cited a number of other work-related incidents and even believed Goulandris’s use of his initials AJG was an acronym for A Jumbo Genital.
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Paperless documents firm essDOCS was taken to a tribunal over Gasparova’s sexual harassment claim.
However, a judge threw the case out after ruling the IT worker possesses a “skewed perception of everyday events” and misinterpreted “innocuous” interactions.
Gasparova joined the company in November 2019 and worked under Goulandris.
Goulandris is the firm’s co-head and former chief executive.
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The judge-led panel also rejected Gasparova’s claim that her boss was treating her badly because she had “rejected his advances”.
She alleged Goulandris had shouted at her, undermined her in meetings with clients and removed key elements of work from her.
Gasparova told the tribunal about an occasion when Goulandris supposedly shouted: “I need date, date, date.”
She interpreted the remark as having been “the exact date when I would finally agree on sexual contact with him”.
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But Goulandris reportedly made the comment when he asked her when a project would be finished.
Gasparova submitted a grievance claim in April 2021 but all of her sexual harassment allegations were dismissed.
Following an unsuccessful appeal in May 2021, Gasparova resigned from the company.
Employment judge Emma Burns said: "Our primary reasons for rejecting her account of events were that we considered her perception of everyday events was skewed.
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“She demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence and she contradicted herself in a way that could not be attributable to a fallible memory.
“Ms Gasparova interpreted entirely innocent work-related conduct, some of it accidental, by Mr Goulandris as having a sinister intent.”
Gasparova was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs to essDOCS after failing to comply with parts of the tribunal procedures in the time stipulated.