London woman mistakes ‘xx’ sent by boss as kisses, sues him for sexual harassment

In a bizarre turn of events, a woman employee sued her boss for sexual harassment after she mistook ‘xx’ in an official email as kisses. 
The woman, an IT professional and a project manager at the London office of essDOCS, has been identified as Karina Gasparova.

The mail sent by her boss Alexander Goulandris read, “Can you please complete the following: The solution us currently used by xx Agris companies and yy Barge lines in corn cargoes in south-north flows in the ???? waterways. Also can you remind me of what the balance of the rollout will be and the approx timing. Thanks.”

In her complaint, Karina stated that the xx stood for kisses, yy for sexual conduct and ???? was a veiled question requesting when she would be ready to do sexual acts.

She further added that her boss wanted a sexual relationship with her and she had rejected his advances. However, after hearing the entire case and reviewing the evidence, the employment tribunal at London Central Court determined that Karina’s perception of the events was ‘skewed’.

“She demonstrated a tendency to make extraordinary allegations without evidence, and she contradicted herself in a way that could not be attributed to a fallible memory,” said Employment Judge Emma Burns as per a report in The Independent.

Later, the Tribunal ordered Karina to pay essDOCS a substantial sum of 5,000 pounds (Rs 513012).