Is approaching a celebrity of the opposite s€x for a selfie an act of misogyny?

Police Scotland thought so and it cost them.

Tunnock & Jones v The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland:

What happened

– Tunnock & Jones were male firearm officers. The unit had a prior history of misogynistic behaviour that superiors wanted to clamp down on.

– Whilst on duty they spotted singer and radio presenter, Talia Storm, (not someone I could pick out of line) and asked for a selfie.

– They left their vehicle parked on double yellow for 60-90 seconds and took the selfie.

– The footage was posted online with both positive and negative responses from the public.

– The officers were called to a meeting and told that their actions could be perceived as sexist and misogynistic. They had their firearms authorisation revoked and were transferred to different units.

– The officers argued they were showcasing positive engagement with the community and commenced claims for s€x discrimination.

The ET held that the officer’s conduct could not ‘reasonably be perceived as s€xist or misogynistic’.

It was agreed that female officers would not have been treated the same way had they approached Ms Storm for a selfie.

Tunnock was awarded £24,800.59 and Jones £23,824.56.

The ET was also scathing of the the Police’s witness, a now retired Chief Constable, who was described as neither credible or reliable.

Lessons for HR

  1. Context is key!

When looking at any investigation considering the intent, context and other variables is key.

If there is video evidence showing people politely asking slightly famous people for selfies then don’t let the manager have a kneejerk response due to historic issues by others in the department.

  1. Process not PR

Don’t let a semi-viral video (I think it got 500 engagements) take precedence over your disciplinary policy.

By reacting, your causing the Streisand effect (look it up). Don’t let tomorrow’s chip paper become headline news!

The fear of this video has resulted in time and money being wasted and police reputation being damaged far more than any selfie could.