A Scots woman who was branded a "fatty" and a "prostitute" by her sexist boss has won £19,000 after a judge ruled his conduct had been "humiliating and offensive".
Aishah Zaman, 35, took former boss Shahzad Younas to a tribunal after almost two years of derogatory comments and sexual advances at textiles firm Knightsbridge Furnishing in East Kilbride.
Younas, who is married and spends most of his time in Pakistan as a political activist, sent Aishah text messages calling her "motee" – Punjabi for "fatty" – and said he wanted "slim smart girls" in his office.
The boss – who has been pictured alongside former Pakistan PM Imran Khan – also told Aishah, from Glasgow, she should stop DJing at night as it was the "work of prostitutes".
The tribunal heard Younas sent messages to Aishah that read "Don't break my heart" and "I fancy you", offering to buy her a Mercedes. He also sent a graphic image of female genitalia, asked her to clean his flat and said she should unpack his suitcase, including underwear, as this was "woman's work".
Matters came to a head in April 2020 when she told him she was too busy to rearrange an office.
Younas called her an "idiot" and a "pain in the a***", before grabbing her by the arm with both hands and yelling: "I am going to f*** you" - which she took to mean he was threatening to ruin her life. He told her to leave and not return and he later sold the firm.
Aishah said the saga had taken a toll on her mental health, having recently come off of antidepressants. The subsequent legal battle has cost her over £10,000.
But she refused to take his attitude lying down, saying: "I couldn't let him get away with this. I've never seen a man like that in my life, he was just a bully.
"He only ever wanted to work with ladies and saw his employees as slaves. He would look at their appearance first rather than what they could or couldn't do."
Employment judge Russell Bradley said Younas had "an outdated image of a subservient female", and held him and the East Kilbride firm jointly liable for discrimination. Mr Bradley awarded Aishah £18,984, which she is yet to receive.
He wrote: "Messages suggesting the desire for a relationship relate to her sex, were unwanted and were humiliating."
Younas later alleged Aishah had embezzled £17,718 from the company, offering to withdraw the claim if she dropped the case. Mr Bradley labelled it "false" with "no factual basis", adding: "In our view the clear inference is that the false allegations were made because of the protected act [reporting sexist behaviour]."
When approached by a Record reporter, Younas said he was "not aware of any proceeding in my absence" and denied sending the messages.
However, papers show he lodged responses with the tribunal, and was represented at a May hearing; legal representatives for Younas and Knightsbridge dropped out before the case concluded.
He said: "When I sold the company there was no communication access so I am not aware of any proceedings."
Sameer Khan, the current director of Knightsbridge Furnishing, said: "We had closed trading business due to losses in May 2022 and informed the employment tribunal of the same. We are sorry as we are out of business so we are not able to pay any claims."
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