Officer who was stripped down to underwear in police training wins £820,000 payout
A former firearms officer has been awarded more than £820,000 after suing West Midlands Police for sex discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.
Rebecca Kalam, 40, retired from the force 15 years ago on medical ground and alleged she was stripped down to her underwear during a police training course.
She also alleged while she was doing press-ups a male officer pushed her down with his foot on the back of her neck and said ‘just because you have t*** does not mean you cannot do a press-up’.
Ms Kalam was awarded £30,000 in November for sex harassment and discrimination.
At the time the judge said she should have been compensated for lost earnings and pension because she would have retired as a superintendent at 60.
The judge has now ordered West Midlands Police to pay her £820,720 which was the ‘unanimous decision of the tribunal panel’.
The force has not disclosed how much it has spent in legal costs.
Ms Kalam was also forced to wear a compression bra to fit into body armour designed for men and wasn’t given a hand gun like male colleagues.
Ms Kalam told Channel 4 News: ‘I feel like I haven’t won this case. In a way I feel like I have lost my career, but I can hold my head up high and say I did everything I possibly could to make those changes.
‘What I felt was unsafe was knowing I might not have gone home to my two kids if I was shot because of the wrong clothing, that’s scary.
‘I have been secondary burnt on the back of my neck when bullet casings went down because of wearing male uniform.’
The tribunal also heard how she was forced to pose in a photoshoot while five months pregnant and would have made superintendent if she had not been mistreated.
She was also told she would not pass a training course if she did not agree to be the firearm unit’s ‘poster girl’.
Ms Kalam originally sought £1.2million in compensation but the panel dismissed her claim for ‘aggravated’ damages.
Three firearm officers have been suspended and ten are in a disciplinary process, West Midlands Police said.
The force has also sought to improve by involving female firearm officers in the testing of new gender-specific uniform and equipment.
The deputy chief constable Scott Green said the issues are from 2012 and since then ‘staff in the Firearms Unit have worked hard to improve culture, standards and the working environment.’
He added: ‘I am sorry that more was not done sooner to address the serious issues raised by Ms Kalam and I apologise for the significant impact that these have had on her which has been highlighted during the tribunal.
‘There is no place in policing for misogynistic, discriminatory or disrespectful behaviour and much progress has been made to set and reinforce the highest standards of conduct and professionalism.’
The recruitment process of the force has been reviewed ‘to increase the diversity of people who apply and remove barriers to recruitment.’
He said: ‘We have also changed and bolstered the leadership in our operations and firearms units.
‘Alongside this we have changed how our firearms officers work as part of our local policing model to support our neighbourhood and response teams in serving local communities.
‘The tribunal recognises that we have taken the grievance and disciplinary matters raised by Mrs Kalam seriously. The steps we have taken are helping us to attract and retain the best and most diverse people in firearms policing, and benefit those already working in this critical area.
‘We continue to make progress to ensure that we are trusted by the public as we go about our duty to protect them.’
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