Lawyer whose colleague lied he sexually assaulted her wins tribunal

A lawyer who was sacked after a female colleague lied that he 'sexually assaulted' her has won an unfair dismissal case after CCTV showed their encounter was consensual. 

Djamshid Rustambekov was accused of sexually harassing his colleague after pulling her into a disabled toilet on a work night out then touching her and kissing her against her will in July last year. 

Mr Rustambekov was investigated over her claims and another allegation that he touched a second colleague inappropriately on the same night out. 

While CCTV emerged in September showing the encounter was 'consensual' as she had kissed and went into the bathroom with him willingly, London firm Fieldfisher LLP sacked him for gross misconduct a month later. 

A tribunal found that in light of the 'incontrovertible' footage, it was clear the woman's allegations were 'patently false' and criticised the law firm's handling of the case after failing to question 'the discrepancies in her evidence'.

Mr Rustambekov, who worked in Fieldfisher's Dispute Resolution department from 2019, is now in line to receive compensation.

The tribunal in central London heard Mr Rustambekov liked to be seen as a 'ladies man' at work and indulged in 'flirtatious banter'.

It was found that 'no one took flirtatious banter emanating from Mr Rustambekov seriously or as a form of sexual harassment'.

Mr Rustambekov and colleagues would regularly play Snog, Marry, Avoid - a game where people rate which of their colleagues they would like to sleep with - however it would be 'in jest', the tribunal heard.

The woman who accused him of molesting her - who has not been named - said of Mr Rustambekov: 'I would be at the top of his list many times.'

During Fieldfisher's investigation of Mr Rustambekov, one female director, Elora Mukherjee, said: 'My opinion is that if [Rustambekov] had the chance to s**g anyone, he would.'

Others said that Mr Rustambekov enjoyed being the 'centre of the party'.

The tribunal hard how he regularly asked women if they would date him, and told them: 'I'll attend to your every need - I'll pour your prosecco'.

In 2023, on a work night out at the trendy Savage Garden rooftop bar at a Hilton Hotel in London, it was alleged Mr Rustambekov sexually assaulted his colleague.

The woman - identified only as Colleague One - said: 'He routinely has tried to come onto me - I've always said no, not interested and he is married.

'[He] was saying to me at drinks how he is angry that I always reject him that he tries so hard and I'm never interested.

'I said again I'm just not interested and thought that would be the end.

'He was like "Come on you always reject me it's so upsetting. Why don't you come in to the bathroom and shag me in there".

'Later in the evening I went to go to the bathroom [and] when I opened the door to come out he was waiting for me.

'He grabbed me and took me into the disabled cubicle and locked the door. I went for the lock and he pinned me against the wall.

'I kept trying to reach the lock and he pushed me away from it. He kissed me and I didn't want it to happen.

'He tried to move his hand under my skirt. I was trying to move away.'

The woman said another female colleague started calling her name and they exited the cubicle.

Colleague One also alleged that around six months earlier, Mr Rustambekov urged her to cancel her Uber after a night out and to 'go back to the office with him'.

Mr Rustambekov was investigated over her claims and another allegation he touched a second colleague inappropriately on the July night out. 

He was then suspended in August 2023.

The lawyer denied making unwanted advances and claimed Colleague One 'confided in him that she was in a relationship with three men at the firm and that the one she really liked was married and had not reciprocated'.

In September 2023, the bar where the alleged assault took place provided a written overview of what CCTV showed.

The report said: 'According to CCTV it seems consensual from both sides. Female A initiates a hug, Male A honours this.

'They are hugging for quite a while then start kissing and Male A gently directs towards the disabled toilet while hugging. Female A does not resist, no force was used at all.'

Ramatu Banga, a partner at the firm who presided over the disciplinary hearing, concluded that even though the woman had given false evidence, that she did not do it deliberately.

Although the firm made no conclusive findings on the toilet incident, Mr Rustambekov was sacked for gross misconduct in November 2023. 

The law firm came to this conclusion after concluding he pestered the woman to leave with him and touched the second colleague inappropriately.

At tribunal, Employment Judge Farin Anthony said after the CCTV emerged Fieldfisher should have disregarded everything the woman claimed as it was not reliable.

'I find it entirely odd that Ms Banga did not think it was important to question [the woman] regarding the discrepancies in her evidence against the CCTV footage', Judge Anthony said.

'[The woman's] version of events immediately before the accessible toilet incident is wholly unsupported by the CCTV footage description and wholly incredible.

'I find the sequence of events indicate [the woman] knew her complaint about being grabbed and pulled into the accessible toilet was patently false.

'I find that her false evidence regarding the accessible toilet incident was not a mistake and did not arise out of confusion.

'What could be the motive? The lie could only be to protect her own interests and her reputation especially given [another colleague] had witnessed her exiting the accessible toilet together with [Mr Rustambekov].'

The judge said the pestering allegation was not made out as Mr Rustambekov had simply offered her a lift home and that he only touched the second woman on the shoulder.

Compensation will be determined at a later date.