A beauty clinic manager who was fired after she drunkenly mocked a junior staff member’s breasts at a drunken Christmas work party has won a lawsuit for unfair dismissal.
Chrissie Lickfold “took the p***” out of the younger woman by brashly telling their colleagues that she thought it was “hilarious” that her breasts hung lower than hers, an employment tribunal was told.
The comments of the ‘crassy’ practice manager Ms Lickfold – who also clashed with other colleagues – left the junior member of staff feeling ‘humiliated’, the hearing was told.
The employment tribunal heard that Ms Lickfold initially went unpunished for the crude joke, but she was shortly afterwards dismissed from the Firvale Clinic in Southampton, Hampshire for ‘toxic’ behaviour.
Dr. Carolyn Berry, director of the cosmetic clinic, had regarded Ms Lickfold as her ‘superstar’, but the couple’s relationship suffered an acrimonious split.
Ms Lickfold is now in line to receive compensation after successfully suing Firvale for unfair dismissal.
Chrissie Lickfold (pictured) won an unfair dismissal case against Firvale Clinic, Southampton, after a judge found there was not enough investigation before firing her
Clinic director Dr Carolyn Berry (pictured) fired Ms Lickfold after saying at a Christmas party that she thought it was ‘hilarious’ that a colleague’s breasts hung lower than her own
Dr Berry, director of the cosmetic clinic, had seen Ms Lickfold as her ‘superstar’, but the couple’s relationship came to an acrimonious split.
A tribunal said Ms Lickfold was a ‘difficult worker’ and caused friction at work, but ruled that Dr Berry acted too hastily in firing her and concluded it amounted to an unfair dismissal.
The Southampton Employment Tribunal heard that Ms Lickfold started working at Firvale from June 2015 until she was dismissed via WhatsApp in April 2022.
Located on an upscale street in central Southampton, Firvale performs laser treatments, removes fat and smoothes wrinkles and was founded in 2008 by ex-NHS doctor Dr. Berry.
Dr. Berry previously showered Ms Lickfold with compliments on her work, telling her ‘I consider you my work daughter’, and praising her for ‘bleeding for the clinic’ for being so loyal.
However, the relationship started to sour in November 2021 when the clinic moved to its current address and Ms Lickfold became unhappy with Dr Berry.
In text messages to a friend, Ms Lickfold said: ‘I literally did everything I could to move this clinic’ and that Dr Berry went on holiday to Tenerife without saying thank you.
She called Dr Berry an ‘ass’, said she could ‘take her to court for her behaviour’ and even complained that she had ‘deposited £500 into my bank account’ as a bonus.
The Southampton Employment Tribunal heard that Ms Lickfold started working at Firvale from June 2015 until she was dismissed via WhatsApp in April 2022
The tribunal found that Dr Berry then ‘tried to make things right’ because she was concerned about Ms Lickfold’s negative attitude and that the clinic director was ‘kind’ towards her.
An anesthesiologist at the clinic, Ana Oliveira, said Ms Lickfold was ‘yelling’ at her and complaining about her behaviour.
Ms Oliveira claimed that Ms Lickfold’s behavior was so bad that ‘waking up to go to work was like torture’.
At the Christmas party in 2021, the tribunal heard that Ms Lickfold insulted an unnamed colleague.
The woman told the hearing: “At one point, myself, Ana, Lindsey White (an ex-colleague) and Chrissie were in the bathroom where I was being questioned by them about my figure. Chrissie returned to the table and announced that it was ‘hilarious how much my breasts hang low’ and that she had bigger breasts than me, but despite hers being bigger'[the unnamed colleague’s] hanging lower’.
‘And ‘she has such nicer breasts than me considering how much younger I am’.
(Another colleague) defended me and said the conversation was not appropriate. I wasn’t sitting at the table during this conversation, which made me feel even worse.’
The next day Mrs. Lickfold apologized, saying ‘I was a drunk and giddy ass’, and initially had no problems at work.
The tribunal concluded it was ‘highly unacceptable’ behavior and said the clinic was entitled to bring sexual harassment charges against Ms Lickfold.
A negative environment persisted at the clinic and in April 2022 Dr Berry caught Ms Lickfold searching for jobs on website Indeed using the work computer.
Labor judge James Dawson said Dr Berry should have waited before firing Ms Lickfold (pictured)
The tribunal’s report said: ‘One gets the unavoidable impression that finding Mrs Lickfold using the computer to look for another job broke the dam for Dr Berry and that a large number of largely unspoken frustrations poured out .’
She was called to a meeting by Dr Berry, which she thought was informal, but was told ‘this is a disciplinary action by the way’ and told there would be a review a month later.
The tribunal heard that her behavior at the Christmas party was one of the points raised at the meeting.
The next day, Dr Berry claimed that Ms Lickfold’s behavior was causing ‘chaos’ in the clinic and she told her to leave, but the tribunal ruled it was not as bad as she claimed. The next day – less than 48 hours after the first meeting – Dr. Berry discharged her.
Employment Judge James Dawson said Dr. Berry should have waited.
Judge Dawson said: “I am convinced that Dr. Berry honestly and reasonably believed in a personality conflict between Ms. Lickfold and other members of staff. A complaint had been made by Mrs. Oliveira and by [the unnamed staff member] following the Christmas party.
In addition, Dr. Berry had a sincere and reasonable belief that there were interpersonal problems between herself and Mrs. Lickfold caused by Mrs. Lickfold. Ms. Lickfold was entitled to be given the opportunity to have her say on these issues, in the context of knowing that the clinic was not happy with her and is considering firing her for that reason.
In fact, at no point did she know that the clinic was considering firing her…
“In my opinion, the circumstances of this case were such that she should have been informed of the allegations against her and the evidence in support of those allegations prior to the meeting.
She should have been warned that if relations don’t improve she could be fired. Time should have been taken to improve relations.
“I accept that Dr. Berry honestly and reasonably believed that she behaved badly in the way she behaved towards her and other members of staff.
“But…she didn’t do enough research and the trial it conducted wasn’t fair.
“While there could be an argument that her behavior at the Christmas party amounted to gross misconduct, the clinic was fully aware of that behavior and chose not to fire her for it.”
The compensation will be decided later.