Woman gets payout after boss coughs in her face

The father of a Wales rugby star must pay more than £26,000 to a female employee for deliberately coughing in her face during the pandemic.

Kevin Davies, father of British Lions and Wales rugby star Gareth Davies, set out to "ridicule and intimidate" the worried woman over her health concerns, a tribunal heard.

Mr Davies, 62, mocked the employee of his car sales and property business in the days before lockdown after she expressed her health fears to colleagues.

The woman had asked fellow workers at Cawdor Cars to social distance from her - as was recommended by officials - because she suffered from psoriatic arthritis and an autoimmune condition.

But employment judge Tobias Vincent Ryan said Mr Davies "coughed in her direction deliberately and loudly, commenting that she was being ridiculous".

Judge Ryan said Mr Davies set out to "ridicule and intimidate" the woman with his "gross behaviour" on March 17, 2020 - a week before the first lockdown was announced.

The hearing was told the woman had worked for Cawdor Cars between 2017 and 2020 and earned £11 an hour for her role. The company has six branches across south and west Wales.

It also has a property rental section where she worked as a property manager for the portfolio including hotels and housing developments.

Judge Ryan found other members of the firm's management team overheard the coughing incident.

But he said when called to give evidence in the tribunal they came across "defensively and as not being wholly straightforward."

The tribunal heard the woman complained "vehemently" about the coughing incident and resigned from the business in Newcastle Emlyn, Ceredigion, less than three months later.

Judge Ryan said: "She resigned at least in part because she was victimised; this was a major and significant factor in her decision.

"She felt that she was being eased out partly because of her complaints. She was correct."

The judge ordered the woman receive a payout of £26,438.84 - with Cawdor Cars handing her £18,000 in damages for injury to feelings and Mr Davies paying £3,841.94 for unfair dismissal and £4,596.90 in interest accumulated.

Speaking after the hearing, the woman said she was left a "nervous wreck" after Mr Davies' "horrendous" conduct.

She said: "He knew of my medical condition. He knew I had no immune protection because of the medication I had to take, and he deliberately coughed in my face.

"I was shaking. I'm not a silly, fluffy person, I've had to put up with a lot in my life, but it really got me."