An 'air kiss' ruled not sexual harassment by UK tribunal

Edina and Patsy from the British comedy series Absolutely Fabulous can breathe a heavy sigh of relief.  

A UK employment judge has ruled that giving a colleague an “air kiss” does not amount to sexual harassment. 

Judge Perry said the gesture could not be regarded as “unwanted conduct of a sexual nature”. 

The ruling came at a tribunal held in Croydon, south London, that dismissed the claim of a Brighton whiskey bar worker, Jing Jing Chen, who made allegations against her fellow employees at the Cut Your Wolf Loose bar. 

Chen claimed she was sexually harassed by her manager, Paul de Newtown, who gave her an air kiss after walking her home following shifts in the autumn of 2021.  

The tribunal found that Chen had “misinterpreted” the gesture as a sexual advance. 

Perry said: “On balance, I consider the most likely factual scenario here to be that Mr De Newtown gave the claimant an air kiss after hugging her and that she misinterpreted this as a sexual advance.” 

“I consider that Mr De Newtown is likely to be a more accurate witness than the claimant in relation to this incident. I broadly found Mr De Newtown to be an honest and straightforward witness. By contrast, the claimant’s evidence has been inconsistent in a number of ways.” 

Perry added: “I do not consider that an air kiss is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.”  

All claims made by Miss Chen were dismissed. 

Essentially, it’s doing going “mwah, mwah” on either side of someone’s face without actually making lip-to-cheek contact.

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, who played Edina and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous, popularised the greeting gesture in the UK.

While some may consider the ruling a victory for common sense, there may be others who consider this a question of