Lawyer fired despite CCTV footage showing female colleague lying about sexual assault

A senior lawyer was dismissed despite CCTV footage showing his female colleague had lied about sexual harassment, an employment tribunal has heard.

Djamshid Rustambekov was a lawyer at the London firm Fieldfisher LLP when he was accused of sexual assault.

A woman at his company, identified only as Colleague One, claimed Mr Rustambekov sexually assaulted her in a disabled toilet during a night out.

But now Mr Rustambekov has won an unfair dismissal claim after CCTV footage emerged showing the meeting between the pair had been “consensual” and that the woman had lied to “protect her interests”.

The tribunal in central London heard Mr Rustambekov, who worked in Fieldfisher’s dispute resolution department, liked to be seen as a “ladies man” at work and indulged in “flirty banter”.

Mr Rustambekov and his colleagues regularly played Snog, Marry, Avoid – a game in which people judge which of their colleagues they would like to sleep with – but it was said to be “for fun”, the tribunal heard.

‘He’s angry that I always reject him’

In July, Mr Rustambekov and the woman had been on a work night out at the Savage Garden rooftop bar of a Hilton Hotel in London.

The woman claimed the lead lawyer had tried to hit her “routinely”, adding: “I’ve always said no, I’m not interested and he’s married.

“(He) said to me over drinks how angry he is that I always reject him, that he tries so hard and that I am never interested.”

The woman claimed she went to the bathroom later that evening and saw Mr Rustambekov waiting for her outside.

“He grabbed me, took me to the disabled cabin and locked the door. I went for the lock and he pressed me against the wall.

“I kept trying to get to the lock, but he pushed me away. He kissed me and I didn’t want it to happen.

“He tried to move his hand under my skirt. I tried to get away.”

The woman said another female coworker started calling her name and they then left the booth.

Colleague One also claimed that about six months earlier, in January 2023, Mr Rustambekov had urged her to cancel her Uber after a night out and “go back to the office with him”.

Mr Rustambekov was investigated over her claims, as well as another allegation that he inappropriately touched a second colleague during their night out in July. He was suspended in August 2023.

The lawyer denied making any unwanted advances and claimed that Colleague One had “confided in him that she was in a relationship with three men from the company and that the one she really liked was married and had not reciprocated”.

But in September 2023, the bar where the alleged assault took place provided a written review of CCTV footage from the night in question, saying the interaction appeared “consensual”.

The report said: “According to CCTV, there appears to be a consensus on both sides. Woman A initiates a hug, Man A respects this.

“They cuddle for a while and then start kissing and Male A gently points to the disabled toilet as he cuddles.

“Woman A does not resist, no violence was used at all.”

Ramatu Banga, a partner at the firm that led the disciplinary hearing into the incident, concluded that while the woman had provided false evidence, she had not done so deliberately.

Although the office made no conclusive findings about the toilet incident, Mr Rustambekov was dismissed in November 2023 for serious misconduct. The law firm concluded that he harassed the woman into coming with him and inappropriately touched the second colleague.

Woman lied to ‘protect her own interests and reputation’

Judge Farin Anthony said after the CCTV footage came to light that the law firm should have ignored everything the woman claimed because it was not reliable, the tribunal heard.

“I find it completely strange that Ms Banga did not consider it important to ask (the woman) questions about the discrepancies in her evidence against the CCTV footage,” Judge Anthony said.

He said the woman’s version of events was “unsupported” by the description of the CCTV footage and “completely unbelievable”.

He also said the woman knew her claim about the toilet incident was “patently false.”

“I am of the opinion that her false evidence in relation to the accessible toilet incident was not a mistake and did not arise from confusion,” Judge Anthony said.

Judge Anthony said her motive could only have been to protect her own interests and her reputation, especially as a colleague had seen her leaving the accessible toilet with Rustambekov.

The judge said the insulting accusation had not been made because Rustambekov had simply offered her a ride home and that he had only touched the second woman on the shoulder.

The tribunal found that in light of the “irrefutable” images it was clear that the woman’s allegations were false.

The compensation will be determined later.