An office worker acted like a mythological ‘siren’ to entice a male colleague into doing her work for her, an employment tribunal heard.
Claire Rogers, 35, faced disciplinary action after she was caught sending tasks to her co-worker before submitting his work as her own.
She quit her job at Motability in Harlow, Essex, before the results of a disciplinary hearing into the matter, claiming the poor treatment she had received was the result of ‘unfounded allegations’.
Miss Rogers – whose Facebook page says she is engaged – then sued the organisation for constructive dismissal, arguing the interactions between her and the colleague, referred to as MS, were instigated by him.
But an employment judge has now thrown out her claim, saying the investigation into the pair’s behaviour was fair.
EJ Suzanne Palmer said: ‘Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, I find that there was sufficient evidence for [Motability] to consider that there was a disciplinary case to answer and to give [Miss Rogers] an opportunity to explain her actions at a disciplinary hearing.’
Miss Rogers worked as a customer case manager at Motability, which funds and supports transport for people with disabilities and provides charitable grants, the tribunal in east London heard.
In February last year, an investigation was launched into MS, who was a complaints case manager for another team. This related to overtime he had claimed and led to emails between him and Miss Rogers being looked at.
Claire Rogers, pictured, acted like a mythological ‘siren’ to entice a male colleague into doing her work for her, an employment tribunal heard
The 35-year-old faced disciplinary action after she was caught sending tasks to her co-worker before submitting his work as her own
The tribunal panel noted: ‘Email correspondence between MS and [Miss Rogers]… showed that she was sending him tasks to do which fell within her duties and was receiving emails from him with completed work.’
Over a six-month period, MS sent Miss Rogers 66 draft decision records involving cases allocated to her, many of which she then uploaded onto the organisation’s system.
Decision records were a key part of her role and involved approving or rejecting applications from members of the public who had applied for support for their disabilities.
Around six ‘samples’ were checked and found to be ‘entirely or nearly identical to the draft sent to her by MS’.
MS often asked team leaders for additional work, ‘such as helping case managers’, the tribunal heard, but this was only permitted when he had ‘capacity’ to do so.
His line manager, Warren Smith, observed MS had ‘a bond’ with Miss Rogers, of Abridge, Essex, and was ‘willing to assist whenever he can’.
Describing their relationship, Mr Smith said: ‘She is a siren, like a mermaid on the rocks, and he is always at her desk, helping her out.’
Sirens are half-bird, half-female creatures of ancient Greek mythology who would lure sailors to their deaths with their enchanting songs. Later on, they became associated and conflated with mermaids, which are half-woman and half-fish.
Rogers quit her job at Motability (pictured) in Harlow before the results of a disciplinary hearing into the matter
MS was asked to ‘pack that in’ as he ‘doesn’t get his own work done’ and was told to stop going over to Miss Rogers’ desk. Eventually they began communicating by email.
During an investigation into the emails, Miss Rogers said MS claimed he had no work and she gave him non-urgent tasks two or three times a week which she ‘thought… was fine’.
She didn’t always agree with MS’s rulings on decision records, she added, and ‘never uploaded something I didn’t agree with’.
During the disciplinary hearing, she told superiors: ‘In hindsight, I would never have accepted as much support as I did.’
Marathon runner Miss Rogers, who started at the firm as a customer support administrator in 2019, went off sick from work before the process was concluded and handed in her notice in April 2023, complaining of the ‘unfounded allegations against me’.
Miss Rogers – who was educated at Trinity Catholic High School in Woodford Green, whose former pupils include actress Tamsin Outhwaite and 2008 Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu – lives in a semi-detached house worth around £580,000.
She now works as a service advisor for Hills of Woodford Toyota, who recently described her role in an online post as ‘to nurture our customer relationships’.
She has declined to comment.