Advisory: Not suitable for children under the age of 14
PROSECUTOR:In Miss Timms' first few weeks as duty manager, takings were up, weren’t they?
RYAN:She did OK at first, yeah.
PROSECUTOR:Well better than OK, when head office first asked for your opinion as a mentor, your comments we're glowing. So what changed?
RYAN:I don’t know, I just started noticing things. Umm, she got sloppy.
PROSECUTOR:When did you first notice this sloppiness?
RYAN:I don’t know exactly.
PROSECUTOR:The first negative report you made was after the evening of September 20th. Can you tell us what was unique about that night?
RYAN:That was the night she messed up the stock order. We had people queuing three deep, unable to get a drink.
PROSECUTOR:It was also the night you kissed Miss Timms.
RYAN:Yeah… but that didn’t even happen at work.
PROSECUTOR:Tell me, what was going through your mind when you initiated the kiss?
RYAN:I don't know, uh… What goes through anyone's mind when they kiss someone? Umm… I liked her and I thought she liked me.
PROSECUTOR:But why that night? It had been a testing evening, given the issues with the stock.
RYAN:I didn’t plan it, we just got chatting and I thought I felt a connection.
PROSECUTOR:But you had your sights set on Miss Timms from the moment she arrived didn’t you?
RYAN:No, I didn’t.
PROSECUTOR:Your colleague sent you a text message, asking after the 'fit new duty manager'. Could you take a look at document 23 in the file beside you and read it out loud please? This is the message you sent in response.
RYAN:"No luck so far, but she wants it, mate. She just doesn't know it yet, but they can't resist my charms much longer. I'm a very persuasive boy."
PROSECUTOR:You wanted Miss Timms, and you were determined to persuade her that she wanted it too.
RYAN:No, no look it was banter, OK? Showing off–
PROSECUTOR:No it was a declaration of intent, you set about persuading Miss Timms didn't you? Whether she was interested or not.
RYAN:No.
PROSECUTOR:Making objectifying comments. Invading her personal space. Smelling her perfume.
RYAN:Look she didn’t mention this to me or to anyone.
PROSECUTOR:Miss Timms was nothing more than a pretty girl to you? Certainly not a woman, your equal? She was the beauty and you were the brains, right?
RYAN:That’s a compliment, isn't it?
PROSECUTOR:No, it's a way to keep Katherine Timms in her place. She stopped the kiss and you punished her for it. You were angry at being rejected weren’t you?
RYAN:No.
PROSECUTOR:On September the 20th, you sent a further message to your colleague, if you wouldn’t mind reading out document 24.
RYAN:"You still at that party bro? She's blown me out–"
PROSECUTOR:Sorry, can't hear you.
RYAN:"She's blown me out, teasing bitch."
PROSECUTOR:Well that sounds quite angry, doesn't it? It was this anger that drove your decision to speak to head office that night.
RYAN:I was goanna tell them anyway, I mean she was all over the place. Emotional, irrational–
PROSECUTOR:What time did you email your superior Johnathan Harris telling him you thought Miss Timms' performance needed a review?
RYAN:I don’t know exactly.
PROSECUTOR:You don’t remember?
RYAN:It would have been late. When I got a chance and-- But that’s the industry.
PROSECUTOR:Shall I remind you? At around 12:40 am, you got out of a taxi with Katherine Timms. At 12:43 am, you sent a message to your colleague describing Miss Timms as "a teasing bitch". At 12:46 am, you emailed Johnathan Harris, telling him you thought Katherine Timms was underperforming.
PROSECUTOR:Three minutes after calling her a teasing bitch. That was the moment you chose to report her poor performance. You never saw Miss Timms as a colleague, did you? Only ever a conquest. And when it became clear she couldn't be conquered, you no longer wanted her around did you? You told lies about her,
PROSECUTOR:you exaggerated minor errors and you made it impossible for her to keep her position, isn't that so?
RYAN:No… this is not true.
Video summary
The third of three films telling the story of a professional relationship between a man and woman at work, which ends with an accusation of sexual harassment and an employment tribunal hearing.
The film shows the resulting employment tribunal and the questioning and evidence of the male character.
The film is accompanied by a discussion piece with 20 people aged 18 to 30 talking about their perceptions of what happens in this film.
The final verdict on the case delivered by the employment tribunal
JUDGE:We accept the claimant, Miss Timms, account.
MISS TIMMS:SIGHS
JUDGE:We find that the actions of Mr Kane were indeed unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. And that this had the affect of violating the claimant's dignity. Furthermore, the claimant was dismissed because she rejected the unwanted conduct of Mr Kane.
Teacher Notes
This film is suitable for 14-16 year olds, however we advise making yourself familiar with the content and considering carefully whether it will be appropriate and of use for your specific cohort.
Check your school policies to make sure you follow school guidelines and talk to a member of the SLT if in doubt about anything.
Check to see if any of your class have any child protection issues – e.g. abuse or sexual harassment.
Once you are confident it is the right resource for your pupils, watch it through alone and jot down your thoughts, questions and reactions to the drama as it unfolds.
You may decide not to tell your class that this is a film about sexual harassment until the very end. By doing this you will enable them to approach it with an open mind and really explore and debate their views without having any pre-judgement.
During the lesson/watching the film
Set up a working agreement with the class and create a list of ground rules for the session so everyone feels safe and able to talk and join in discussions without being judged. (Remember to include a reminder to talk to a trusted adult if anything in the film makes them feel uncomfortable).
If you have watched Film 1 and 2, spend some time recapping on the story so far and look back at your notes and questions saved on your smartboard or flip chart. Recap on the main elements to the story and how they all feel about it so far. Allow them time to explore their different perspectives and how they think the story might conclude. If they still don’t know, ask them again what they think this film might be about. Give lots of time for paired, group or whole class discussion and write up their ideas on a flip chart or smartboard so you can use or refer to them in the future.
Tell them you are going to watch this quietly all the way through and you will all discuss it at the end.
This film is 4.06 minutes long. There are no breaks in it.
On completion of the film. Recap on the main events uncovered in the prosecution. If necessary watch the film again and give the class time to write notes on the details. Give the class lots of time to discuss and/or debate this. How do they all feel now? Has anyone changed their minds about anything? If so what and why? Do they think this would have been dealt with differently if it was sexual harassment towards a man? Why? Can you all come to a mutual decision about what this is and who is right or wrong?
At the end of your session look back at your earlier questions and allow time for discussion and to pull everything together. E.g. What have you all learnt? Did you improve at listening, discussing and debating? How can these skills be used in life away from the classroom?
Try and allow for some quiet reflection at the end of your lesson – notes/thoughts could be written but not essential.
Always check in with the group and remind them to talk to someone if anything they have seen or discussed has made them feel uncomfortable and always signpost where they can get further support or information both within and outside of school. E.g. ChildLine will talk to people right up to the age of 19 for support and the Equality Advisory and Support Service is available to give advice, information or guidance on equality, discrimination or human rights issues. (Both are free to use).
Following on
You can use the additional resource called ‘Discussion on Part 3’ which is part of a set of three separate films showing young people in discussion about each film. This can be viewed in support or to extend on from your pupils’ debates if they are a lively bunch, or to get them going if they are a quieter group. (Be sure to watch this ahead of the session so you are happy and aware of the content before showing it). Nb. In this final discussion film a barrister is brought in to clarify the laws and specifically break down each of Ryan’s actions in terms of whether it is sexual harassment or not.
Nb. “Sexual Harassment occurs when a person engages in unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of: violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.” Equality and Human Rights Commission 2017
Nb. Sexual harassment is unlawful under The Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales and The Sex Discrimination Order, 1976 in Northern Ireland.
This lesson could also be used in the context of, or followed up with, a look at the laws surrounding sexual harassment and could open up further work on protected characteristics or discrimination.
Group discussion on their perceptions of the film
BEN ZAND:Has anybody changed their mind after watching that? How have you changed your mind?
FEMALE ONE:I have defiantly changed my mind and I am so happy because I feel like right now, Kat's got it in the bag. And I'm just glad that the truth has come out and unfortunately guys we have to be honest with ourselves, there are a lot of men who are out there who think that they can have any women that they want and it's just the truth.
FEMALE ONE:When I heard about the text from watching, I was absolutely disgusted and I had at that point it confirmed for me that Ryan was just a disgusting human being and that his intentions were purely sexual from the beginning.
FEMALE TWO:I've actually changed my mind a little bit, I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to see this a bit more as someone who has no game, obviously no respect for boundaries, but he-- at the end of the day, is a guy who's trying it with a girl that he likes. And girls text their mates and I'm-- if anybody denies this your chatting rubbish.
FEMALE TWO:Because girls always text each other and their like, he's mine he just doesn't know it yet, I love him so much but he know it-- he loves me, he just doesn't know it yet. So actually it's not fair that those texts were shown because girls do that as well, but people think they're crazy like "ha, ha, ha, ha" but actually girls can be filth.
FEMALE FOUR:Yeah.
CLAPPING
FEMALE TWO:'When I said girls are filth, I know that girls can talk about boys 'that they're not even with…' and what Ryan said, fair enough it was a bit more sexual when he said, "she wants me, she just doesn't know it yet" what's the difference? Just because a girl may speak softer and I know other girls will say something very similar to Ryan, it's still the same thing.
FEMALE THREE:Can you not see it as, he's invested time like-- don’t get me wrong I agree he shouldn’t have said that but he's invested his time into this girl, in a way he was… you know, in his head he could be thinking, I'm being a gentleman.
FEMALE THREE:I'm helping her out with work, I'm complementing her, I'm seeing if she's alright being sick. He's done the common courtesy, I'm gonna you know, take her home she's been drinking, she's been sick, yeah you know–
FEMALE TWO:I'm going to invite myself up to her room–
FEMALE ONE:Excuse my French but I just feel like… I just-- what is being a gentleman about going to work and doing your job? Let's not… excuse his behaviour, he hasn't been a gentleman–
FEMALE THREE:I'm not saying he's being a gentleman. I'm saying, the idea in his head and the process he's doing, he may think "I'm being a gentleman."
BEN ZAND:What do you think, you seem pretty shocked during that lot, what was going through your mind?
FEMALE FOUR:I feel like Ryan just said banter to excuse his toxic masculinity in saying that like, he just wanted to tear her down, that was him genuinely having a bad motive and bad intention for Kat and you can see his altera motives from the beginning.
MALE ONE:His problem was that he was trying to pick her up within and only within the confines of work. Which she can't escape from that. If he for example, invited her maybe for a drink, or a meal or a day outside of work and she–
FEMALE FOUR:Thank you!
CLAPPING
BEN ZAND:What I'm intrigued about is, any of the men in the room… have you been in a scenario, kind of where you have tried to peruse a relationship where you've sent similar texts, like Ryan has–
MALE TWO:Yeah I've said some in the workplace before and she was offended and I said I'm sorry, I shouldn't do that and that was the end of it.
BEN ZAND:So, what were you-- what was your message? What did you–
MALE TWO:No, no, no I didn't text, I'll just say it to your face.
BEN ZAND:What did you say?
MALE TWO:I said you look pretty hot and then she took offence to that and I said I'm sorry and then that was that and I ain't going near that.
BEN ZAND:What did she say to you specifically?
MALE TWO:She said, "Don't effing say that" and I was like, fair enough. And she was a woman, bit older than myself so I was like, I'm not going to mess with that, I'll see ya later.
BEN ZAND:Emma, why do you thinkthat's an issue?
FEMALE FIVE:It's the workplace, come on. Your clever mate, you should know these things before you like, just… it's one thing acting on an emotion, but there's like another thing, like it's a very risky scenario and the thing is, you were put into your place immediately. Whereas this guy - Ryan, he's not been. He has acted in this misty, blurred area between work and social.
FEMALE SIX:Hearing the texts made me feel that… Ryan was really objectifying Kat, all he wanted from her was one thing and when he was done with her, from that then that's it, she wasn’t of any more use to him. That was horrible.
MALE THREE:So when he sent the text message, I looked at that and I thought… he honestly does believe she's trying to play hard to get here and that’s his excuse to keep like, going on the hunt, cause' it's like he's looking at it as a way from like a predator and she's the prey.
BEN ZAND:'People are still split over whether Ryan has sexually harassed Kat. 'But will that change? 'Another person who's been involved in a sexual harassment case 'has come to share their story.'
BEN ZAND:Hey Helen, very nice to meet you, I'm Ben. 'Helen was working as an actress in a theatre company that works with kids, 'when she experienced problems with her male colleagues.' This is Helen.
ALL: HELLO.
BEN ZAND:We're go and sit on those two chairs.
HELEN:OK.
BEN ZAND:What were some of the things that were happening?
HELEN:They talked about the size of my breasts. They talked about my vagina, quite openly. They… took of a picture of me when I was asleep and graffitied an ejaculating penis on my face put it on Facebook, put it on the companies social media page.
HELEN:Talking about sex… as well, all the time. It just - it's quite bizarre really, like what it does to you. I put up with quite a lot, I guess.
BEN ZAND:What was the most difficult part of it all?
MALE TWO:Umm… I think the fact that yeah, that I felt unable to stand up for myself. I didn’t really know - I knew it was wrong, my instincts were telling me that this wasn’t right, but I just didn’t know what to do about it, that was the hardest thing. It hit me emotionally…
MALE TWO:because here's a woman who works with children. Here's a woman who has every intention of… being the best person she can be and… I think she's the most honest representation of women in the UK at the moment and what they have to face.
FEMALE THREE:So the part of Helens story which affected me the most was when she said that she shrugged things off, like the comments… I honestly feel I may have done the same and until hearing someone else say it and who's been through it, I hadn't realised that I had done the same, I had just made excuses for people.
BEN ZAND:'Helen said she felt the company didn’t take her complaint 'seriously enough. 'So she took the case to an employment tribunal.'
BEN ZAND:What's it actually like to go through an employment tribunal and to have to basically face-off with the harassers, face-off with their barristers?
HELEN:I was put on the spot and completely intimidated by the representative of the company. And I was called a liar, they talked over me, he raised his voice to me, it was very aggressive. He was insinuating that it was wanted, that I had kind of, enjoyed it or didn’t have a problem with it.
BEN ZAND:'Helen finally won her case 'and was awarded 10 thousand pounds compensation.' Firstly, thank you for sharing your story.
HELEN:You're welcome.
FEMALE FOUR:Would you agree that you know, it's not always about saying no, sometimes you can say no through your behaviour, the way that you act and it shouldn’t really be happening in the first place.
HELEN:Absolutely. I think this is it like, you don’t go into a job with the defence mechanisms ready, just in case something happens. And yeah of course your body language, your facial expressions should be enough to warm someone off.
HELEN:I think that when I was saying that I felt, I couldn’t even be myself anymore because I'm naturally… like, I feel like I'm naturally quite warm and smiley and stuff and then you think, "Am I leading someone on by being just me?"
BEN ZAND:Thank you very much for talking to us. 'So we've heard from two people who've been involved in real life 'sexual harassment cases.' 'And now it's time for the biggest question in Kat and Ryan's story. '"Is this sexual harassment?"'
FEMALE TWO:'I honestly don’t know. 'I don’t know what the rules are for sexual harassment in the workplace.' I feel stupid because obviously I'm saying what I think… well actually no I don’t feel stupid because that’s what I think but I think it's stupid that I'm obviously talking about this and I don’t even know if what Ryan did was sexual harassment.
MALE FOUR:I think sexual harassment is when a person imposes themselves sexually onto somebody else, without their consent. However, they have to be getting a form of arousal from it.
FEMALE ONE:I believe staring can be sexual harassment because there is a way you can look at someone innocently, and I believe there's another way you can look at someone with intention.
MALE FIVE:If you're telling the judge that, "He looked at me and he licked his lips." I could have been looking-- I could have been daydreaming, I could have thought my lips were dry - licked my lips, but you can't tell me that’s sexual harassment.
BEN ZAND:'So it seems pretty obvious at this point that trying to actually define 'sexual harassment is very difficult. 'The whole group seem completely confused, 'it's got pretty heated in there.' So to get a specific legal definition, we've brought in a barrister.
BEN ZAND:Hello Kerry.
KERRY:Hi.
BEN ZAND:How are you doing?
KERRY:Fine, thank you.
BEN ZAND:'Kerry's a barrister with over 20 years' experience 'in employment tribunals. 'She's represented both victims and those accused of sexual harassment.'
BEN ZAND:So this is Kerry guys.
ALL: Hi!
BEN ZAND:It probably makes most sense to start with a definition of sexual harassment, what is sexual harassment?
KERRY:Well sexual harassment is any unwanted conduct that’s related to sex, that has the purpose or effect to violating someone's dignity. So if the individual intends to violate dignity, you tick the box but also if the individual doesn't intended to violate dignity but the effect is that dignity is violated, that ticks the box as well - so it's either.
KERRY:They both classify as sexual harassment.
BEN ZAND:So we have now seen pretty much everything, he's gone through his tribunal, we've seen his defence, we've seen the prosecution. Given the fact that we've seen the text messages, we know his intent, if we break it down, what is sexual harassment? Is the perfume comments sexual harassment?
KERRY:Yes - the perfume comment is sexual harassment.
RYAN:Nice perfume.
KERRY:So for example, would he say to a man, you've got nice perfume - if not it's more than, not likely, that it's related to sex itself, isn't it? So it definitely could count as harassment, yes.
BEN ZAND:The leaning in too close is that–
KERRY:defiantly sexual harassment in this context, yes.
KAT:I was just going back to finish it.
RYAN:Oh, team work innit? Brains and beauty. See ya!
BEN ZAND:Beauty and the brain?
KERRY:Yes, again beauty and the brain - sexual harassment. It's related to her sex, if it has the purpose or effect of violating her dignity. It's the actual effect upon her that counts.
BEN ZAND:Touching her back?
KERRY:Touching the back, that's sexual harassment. Any kind of form of physical contact at work, you're getting yourself into trouble - other than shaking the hand. But putting your hand on someone's shoulder or their back, defiantly would count.
RYAN:Unless?
BEN ZAND:The kiss?
KERRY:Again, providing we could establish it was linked to the work, he was acting within the course of his employment, that's sexual harassment.
BEN ZAND:But then, you know he apologises, he says that he didn't realise it was unwanted, does that make any difference?
KERRY:It makes no difference what so ever, because it's the effect upon the individual that counts. So in terms of the law, all we have to do is show the effect of it upon that individual, so I doesn’t matter if you intended it or not.
KAT:What's head office doing here?
FEMALE SEVEN:Not sure.
BEN ZAND:And then him essentially calling in head office, is that sexual harassment, despite the fact she wasseemingly underperforming?
KERRY:Yes, that's sexual harassment. If someone treats you less favourably because of it… because you rejected their advances, that again is sexual harassment yep, defiantly.
BEN ZAND:And is it a case that these things individually could be harassment or is it them together, form a case that is essentially harassment as a whole?
KERRY:There can be sexual harassment individually, but if you have a lot of minor incidents together, they might not look like sexual harassment on their own, but when you create the bigger picture - you'd identify it was sexual harassment, yeah.
BEN ZAND:So in conclusion… is pretty much everything he did sexual harassment?
KERRY:Yes, it is.
BEN ZAND:Thank you so much Kerry, it was really good you-- Fantastic.
These lessons will fit within:
Citizenship and PSHE in England.
The Curriculum for Excellence (Health & Wellbeing Education) in Scotland.
Learning for Life and Work in Northern Ireland.
Personal and Social Education (PSE) in Wales.
Part 1 - The Bar. video
A new duty manager starts at a bar and is mentored by a male counterpart.
Part 2 - Two Weeks Later. video
The working relationship changes and leads to an employment tribunal.
