The head chef of a posh Lake District hotel has won almost £80,000 after his boss sexually harassed him by singing Victoria Wood’s classic ‘Ballad of Barry and Freda’ at him in a suggestive way.
Sam Nunns has won the huge payout after manager Andrew Wilson serenaded him and made a series of ‘disconcerting gestures’ as he dwelt on the lyric ‘let’s do it’ from Wood’s parody of the Cole Porter original.
Mr Nunns complained that his boss at the Windermere Manor Hotel in Cumbria ‘attempted eye contact’ while gesticulating and singing the song, which tells of a woman propositioning her shy husband for sex.
Wood’s 1980s song features lyrics such as: ‘Let’s do it/Let’s do it/Do it while the mood is right/I’m feeling appealing/I’ve really got an appetite/I’m on fire/With desire/I could handle half the tenors in a Male Voice Choir/Let’s do it/Let’s do it tonight.’
The chef told an employment tribunal Mr Wilson had repeatedly touched his thigh and bottom and lingered while hugging him as he worked at the £170 per-night hotel, set within ‘beautiful grounds’.
Andrew Wilson (pictured), manager of Windermere Manor Hotel serenaded his head chef Sam Nunns with The Ballad of Barry and Freda
Mr Nunns complained about the behaviour of his boss at the country house hotel (pictured)
It appears to be the first case of workplace harassment by means of Victoria Wood (pictured)
He said that on other occasions general manager Mr Wilson referred to a cucumber and asked him ‘Do you need some time alone dear’ and ‘I’ll put olive oil on the orders list again’.
Around the same time, he ‘faked an orgasm’ when eating the chef’s food, and then hugged and ‘mildly dramatised’ engaging in intimacy with him.
Following a ‘string’ of assaults at the 1850s hotel, Mr Nunns decided to resign and sue.
Although the tribunal ruled that several of these incidents did not constitute harassment, an employment judge said the song had ‘violated his dignity’ and was humiliating.
As a result, it amounted to unwanted sexual conduct, along with ‘repeated’ touching, massaging his shoulders, and saying he loved him.
Now, Mr Nunns has been awarded compensation of £79,119.
The tribunal, held in Manchester, heard Mr Nunns was excited when he landed his first head chef role at the Windermere Manor Hotel in October 2021.
The 35-bedroom hotel is described as a ‘handsome building’ with ‘beautiful gardens’ and boasting a view of the famous lake.
The tribunal heard that the ‘Ballad of Barry and Freda’ incident happened in January 2022.
Mr Nunns said: ‘He repeatedly attempted to make eye contact with [me] and made disconcerting gestures towards [me], particularly when singing the repeated words “Let’s do it”.
Mr Wilson admitted he sang the song, but said this was only because the comedian had come up in conversation and Mr Nunns hadn’t heard the song.
Additionally, the tribunal found the manager and chef would often hug, but after an incident in which Mr Wilson had touched Mr Nunns’ bottom in November 2021, he became uncomfortable with the embraces, especially as he said they became longer.
Other incidents were said to have happened at the hotel – which is owned by Starboard Hotels after it was put on the market at a guide price of £1.5 million in 2017 – but were not found to be harassment.
Mr Nunns told the tribunal that the same week he began working there, the general manager said ‘oh dear, I didn’t realise you were…’ and made ‘a series of gestures’ after he found out Mr Nunns had an ex-boyfriend.
However, the tribunal found that while this happened, it wasn’t harassment, along with asking if he wanted time alone with a cucumber, and dry humping him.
After filing a grievance, Mr Nunns felt he had been ‘continuously treated unacceptably’ and felt forced to resign in July 2022.
Ruling that Mr Nunns had been sexually harassed, Employment Judge Phil Allen said: ‘Someone singing a song in a work environment would not normally amount to unlawful harassment. In another context, the singing of a particular song would not have amounted to harassment.
‘The song which is the subject of the allegation is about someone propositioning someone else for sex.
‘The Tribunal accepted that the song was sung in the way evidenced by [Mr Nunns], with particular emphasis being placed upon the words repeated regularly throughout the song of “let’s do it” and those words being accompanied by eye contact and disconcerting gestures towards the [him].
Victoria Wood came tenth a 2006 ITV’s poll of the British public’s 50 Greatest TV Stars
‘[Mr Wilson] singing the song and singing it in the way which it has been found he did, was considered in the context of the other harassment which the Tribunal found had occurred.
‘The Tribunal accepted that the song, and what was emphasised in it, took on a very different tone in the light of the events which the Tribunal found had occurred.
‘It was clear from [Mr Nunns] evidence that the song being sung to him in that way with the relevant emphasis had the effect of violating the claimant’s dignity and creating a degrading, humiliating and offensive environment for him.’
Having soared to fame in the 1980s, winning a BAFTA and being made a CBE, Wood died of cancer in 2016 aged 62, with the cheeky ditty remaining one of her best loved comedy moments.
A spokesman for Windermere Manor said: ‘This was an isolated incident, and the matter has now been settled.’
