Recruiting director who rejected sexual advances from male boss after exchanging flirtatious text messages on 50 Shades of Gray wins sexual harassment claim

A recruitment director who rejected her male boss’s sexual advances after exchanging raunchy text messages with him has won a sexual harassment claim.

Goran Hankic got into bed with Georgina Roberts after the pair exchanged a series of messages about erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which led to them both admitting they were ‘inspired’, an employment tribunal in Leeds heard.

The conversation had begun when Mr. Hankic comforted Mrs. Roberts after she broke up with her wife, but became sexually charged after she asked him, “You know I feel like having both?” – despite him being present at her wedding, the tribunal heard.

A month after the conversation, Mr. Hankic got into bed with Ms. Roberts and “grabbed” her breasts after a company drink.

When the director’s advances were not reciprocated, he stormed out and became ‘hostile’ towards her at work, the tribunal was told.

Boss, Goran Hankic (pictured), got into bed with recruitment director Georgina Roberts after the pair exchanged a series of messages about erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, which led to them both admitting they were ‘turned on’.

In a bitter campaign, Mr Hankic delegated work away from Ms Roberts and left her out completely – even though they had previously declared they were each other’s “best friends”.

Ms Roberts is now eligible for compensation after winning claims for unfair dismissal and sexual harassment, with a judge ruling that the ‘one was thrown’ for her after she rejected his sexual advances.

During the hearing, the two founded recruitment company Kapia Partners in September 2020 after previously being colleagues at another company.

In September 2020, Ms. Roberts married her wife and Mr. Hankic attended the ceremony as a guest.

However, the panel heard the couple split in July 2022 after a ‘short and unhappy’ marriage.

Ms Roberts was heard to have been ‘deeply affected’ by the split and was therefore not performing as effectively in her role.

Mr Hankic was ‘very supportive’ of her through her marital problems, the tribunal was told.

In WhatsApp conversations, he called her his “best friend” and urged her to talk to him if necessary.

In messages in August 2022, Mr Hankic mentioned plans to go to Florida with Ms Roberts to celebrate her birthday, before thanking him for being a “stone for me”.

The messages were then heard to become ‘flirty’, with her telling him: ‘I tend to fall in love with someone rather than their gender’.

“She said to (Mr. Hankic), ‘You know I like both?’ the court heard. ‘(He) replied: ‘no’.

‘The messages then turned to the topic of sex, mentioning the erotic fiction book Fifty Shades of Grey. (Mr. Hankic) introduces the topic. (Ms Roberts) does not shut down this part of the discussion and is happy to participate in it.

‘Later in the message (he) said he thought a line had been crossed in the conversation with which (Ms Roberts) agreed.

“(She) asked, ‘Can you look at me the same way again?’ (He) replied, ‘If you could see my face now.’ (She) messaged, “I’m a little excited,” to which (he) replied, “Me too.”

“(Ms. Roberts) sent a message: ‘Sleeping is getting hard now.’ To which (he) replied: ‘I am very frustrated at the moment.’ (She) said, “I’m sure there are things we can both do in the comfort of our own personal space.”

The following month there was a work drinks at the Otley Run – a popular pub crawl in Leeds – which continued at Mr Hankic’s home in the city.

Instead of returning home to York, Mrs Roberts stayed overnight and went to bed at 1.30am.

She texted a friend and said, “Everyone is doing fucking cocaine like it’s normal. Not my bag, no pun intended’.

Around 5:30 a.m., she said Mr. Hankic “got into bed and hugged me from behind to wake me up.”

“I had no intention of having a sexual relationship with him,” she said.

Ms Roberts said she ‘shrugged off’ his sexual advances as he continued to try to hug me from behind and ‘grabbed’ her breasts.

Mr Hankic became ‘visibly frustrated’ when she made it clear she was ‘not interested’ and left the bedroom.

In evidence, Ms Roberts said she had not initially reported it because she ‘put it down to a drunken mistake’ and hoped to talk things through.

But the panel heard that Mr Hankic’s attitude towards (Ms Roberts) changed significantly’ at work.

When she returned to work, she was told she did not have to attend management meetings, and he separately criticized her for looking “worse for wear” and having dog hair on her clothes.

The tribunal heard that after a two-week leave of absence in early October 2022, Mr Hankic gave Ms Roberts ‘the blank’ on her return.

In November 2022, she approached him and asked why he was behaving the way he was, to which he replied, “You are the victim and you always play the victim.”

She filed a formal complaint and a second stating that the “only explanation” for his change in behavior was that she rejected his sexual advances.

In December 2022, she received her last salary and was fired.

Ms Roberts has now won her claims of unfair and wrongful dismissal and several sexual harassment claims.

The panel found that Mr Hankic’s ‘change in behaviour’ would have been ‘highly unlikely’ due to the ‘very close friendship’ between the pair, had he not been rejected.

Employment judge Jonathan Brain said: ‘(Mr Hankic) was very supportive of (Ms Roberts) until September 2022.

‘His whole behavior and demeanor towards her changed then.

‘Before that date he had barely been able to support her, but after that he became increasingly hostile towards her.

“There can be no rational explanation for his change in behavior other than her rejection of his sexual behavior.”

He continued, “(Mr. Hankic) had essentially delegated the role of (Ms. Robert).

“(His) conduct in assaulting her twice after sleeping with her reasonably had the effect of violating her dignity and subsequently creating an intimidating environment for her.

“The violation of her dignity took place that night.

‘As we can conclude, this led to the creation of an intimidating environment for her in the workplace thereafter.

‘The tribunal has no hesitation in finding that (Mr Hankic’s) conduct towards her was of a sexual nature.

“He has not and will not act as he did towards a male employee.

‘He wanted a relationship with her because he was attracted to her because she is a woman. So the behavior relates to her gender.’

A court hearing to decide Ms Roberts’ compensation will take place at a later date.