More women accuse court judge of harassment

Three other women have accused a judge of harassment during employment tribunal hearings.

They say Judge Philip Lancaster belittled and intimidated them, and made them feel stupid while they presented their cases. One said she felt his behavior in her case bordered on emotional abuse.

The three women spoke out following a BBC report in April in which five women accused Mr Lancaster of bullying and sexist behaviour.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office, which supports the judiciary in courts across England and Wales, said judges cannot comment on conduct matters because of constitutional provisions.

He said allegations of misconduct in court can be referred to the Judicial Conduct Investigation Office.

All three women appeared before Mr Justice Lancaster at Leeds Employment Tribunal between 2021 and this year.

“Beaten and intimidated”

In October 2022, Jackie Moore represented her daughter who brought a wrongful termination and disability discrimination claim against her employer.

Ms Moore had spent two years preparing the case and had attended several preliminary hearings before different judges whom she found “efficient and polite”.

But she says none of this prepared her for the five-day hearing before Judge Lancaster. She says he was “condescending” from the start.

“He thought I would have no idea.”

Ms Moore said the judge repeatedly addressed her and “blocked or challenged” questions she asked of witnesses provided by her daughter’s employer.

She says she felt “beaten, intimidated and persecuted by him, who put pressure on her.”

When she read the testimonies of other women who had appeared before the judge, she realized she was not alone.

Employment tribunals are specialist courts that deal with disputes between employers and employees. Around 30,000 hearings take place each year in Scotland, England and Wales, mainly on issues such as unfair dismissal, terms of dismissal and discrimination. Northern Ireland has a separate system.

In April, BBC News heard allegations from five other women about Mr Justice Lancaster’s behaviour. The women, who met him in separate cases, said they wanted to highlight his “degrading behaviour”, including what they called “misogyny and bullying”.

“He made my life hell”

Earlier this year, another woman spent seven days in court before Mr Justice Lancaster after bringing a claim against her employer for age discrimination, constructive dismissal and unfair discrimination.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she felt “fully prepared” because she had spent more than a year working on her case, and had even attended other hearings in Leeds to see how litigants in person – people who represent themselves – were treated.

She says her preliminary hearings went well. “Everyone let me talk, no one shut me down, no one made me feel worthless.”

That experience, the 45-year-old said, was in direct contrast to how she was treated by Judge Lancaster.

“He made my life hell,” she recalls. “He had his hands on my head and seemed indifferent to what I was saying. He repeatedly asked me why I was asking particular questions (to my employer’s witnesses) and he repeatedly raised his voice. I felt useless.” She has now appealed the decision.

Angela Gates filed a complaint against her employer for disability discrimination and constructive dismissal in 2021.

She said a hearing before Judge Lancaster left her feeling “like a villain being sued.”

She says: “I felt like I couldn’t have a say in anything.”

The four-day hearing was held over Zoom, and Ms Gates, 53, claims Judge Lancaster regularly shouted at her, repeatedly telling her to be quiet. She said his behaviour was “appalling and degrading, bordering on emotional abuse”, adding: “I don’t believe I got a fair trial”.

In his judgment, the judge said he agreed with the defence’s description that Ms Gates was “tipping into paranoia”, saying it was not a criticism of her but “a fact, given her poor mental health”. Ms Gates said she found it extremely offensive.

“He has no medical training to come to that conclusion,” she said.

She appealed the judgment but did not complain about Judge Lancaster’s behaviour because, like many other litigants, “you are told not to complain on grounds of bias”.

“You feel that it will have consequences for your case if you get personal with a judge.”

A spokesman for the Judicial Bureau said appeals can be filed against any judgment where a party believes there is an error of law or that they did not receive a fair hearing.

But it is extremely difficult to file a complaint against a judge in the labor court system. The judge’s notes are considered the official record of the court, but there is no obligation to publish them. Since the end of last year, proceedings in some courts have been recorded, but the court is also not required to publish the audio recording or provide complainants with a transcript.

One of the women who originally complained about Judge Lancaster’s behaviour, Alison McDermott, believes the justice system is completely irresponsible.

“I am fed up with this nonsense, the lack of transparency and fairness in a court in the UK,” she said. “The whole system needs a thorough investigation as a matter of urgency.”