Wear Makeup – A Reasonable Request Or Sexual Harassment?

In a recent case against the high-end restaurant Tattu, based in Soho, London, the Employment Tribunal found that instructing female employees to wear makeup can constitute sexual harassment under the Equality Act 2010. In this particular case, Tattu's deputy manager, Ms Joanne Huang told 24 year old waitress, Ms Jahnayde Henry that she looked 'tired and unpresentable' and suggested that she should wear makeup in the future.

Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct related to sex that creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the subjected individual. Critically, harassment can occur even when the intention behind the action, comment or incident was not discriminatory. In this case, the Employment Tribunal distinguished between direct sex discrimination and sexual harassment, finding that the instruction to wear makeup would not be direct sex discrimination but did constitute harassment.