Hollywood special effects firm which worked on Captain America and Hot Fuzz loses race and sex discrimination claim after boss called female employee an ‘old nag’ and told another not to ‘get her knickers in a twist’

• Karen Edwins claimed she was unfairly forced to resign from her job at Artem
• Special effects firm’s co-founder Mike Kelt called a female employee an ‘old nag’
• Said he wanted a ‘pretty young lady’ on reception, while 80% of staff were male 

A Hollywood special effects firm which worked on Captain America and Hot Fuzz had race and sex discrimination claims against them upheld after its boss called a female employee an ‘old nag’ and told another not to ‘get her knickers in a twist’.

Mike Kelt, co-founder and CEO of creative firm Artem, also said he wanted a ‘pretty young lady’ on reception at his company, an employment tribunal heard.

The company, which has sites in west London and Glasgow, created Graham Norton’s Big Red Chair for his BBC chat show and The Bull sculpture for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. 

Artem, which has operated in the film and television industry for almost 30 years, has also worked on BBC dramas Bodyguard and Call the Midwife.

The company has been successfully sued by its former finance director, Karen Edwins, who claimed she was unfairly forced to resign from the ‘male dominated industry’.

Mike Kelt (pictured), co-founder and CEO of creative firm Artem, called a female employee an ‘old nag’ and told another not to ‘get her knickers in a twist’

Mr Kelt (pictured) also said he wanted a ‘pretty young lady’ on reception at his company, an employment tribunal heard

The 60-year-old said she was the victim of sex and race discrimination when Mr Kelt – who has worked on classic British TV shows like Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – told her he had lost confidence in her.

In a meeting, Mr Kelt – also in his 60s – said a ‘few things’ had gone ‘dramatically wrong’ – comments which led her to walk out the door after almost 25 years working at the company.

The tribunal ruled in her favour after hearing of the chairman’s remarks to female staff and that 80 per cent of Mr Kelt’s workers were male and ‘predominantly’ white.

In a majority ruling, the panel said Mr Kelt’s conversation with Ms Edwins amounted to a ‘repudiatory breach’ of her contract.

‘[Artem] has failed to show that the repudiatory conduct was in no sense whatsoever because of sex or race, and therefore the [constructive] dismissal was an act of direct sex discrimination and direct race discrimination,’ it concluded.

‘The workforce was more than 80 per cent male,’ the panel added. ‘Mr Kelt had had this drawn to his attention, and said he would consider it. He had failed to take any action.

‘He made the ‘old nag’ comment…two female [staff] each remarked on specific comments he had made which had offended them. (knickers in twist; pretty young lady for reception).

‘These are facts which show Mr Kelt’s actions potentially could be motivated by the sex of the person he was talking to, or talking about and from which the Tribunal could conclude that his words and actions [to Ms Edwins] were, at least partially, and at least unconsciously, influenced by [her] sex.’

Ms Edwins’ race claim was similarly upheld after the tribunal heard the only other BAME employee at the firm was paid differently during the pandemic than white employees. The finance director is now set to receive compensation.

The tribunal in Watford heard that Ms Edwins joined Artem – whose website boasts ‘If you can dream it, we can build it’ – in 1996 and was appointed Finance Director in 2004.

Artem, which specialises in physical effects, created Graham Norton’s Big Red Chair for his BBC chat show (pictured)

Artem created the Bull sculpture for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The bull, named Ozzy after Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, has become a permanent fixture at Birmingham New Street

The hearing was told that in her view it was a ‘male dominated’ industry and that white men were ‘over represented’, with the company employing nine women out of a total of 36 staff in 2022.

The tribunal heard that by 2020, Mr Kelt and managing director Toby Stewart had grown increasingly concerned about Ms Edwins’ performance and told her a finance review was to be conducted.

This led to a meeting in August at which the chairman said he had ‘lost confidence’ in her.

‘He said that he and Mr Stewart both thought she was being unhelpful,’ the tribunal heard. ‘He said that some things had gone badly wrong.’

Following the meeting a ‘thoroughly demoralised’ Ms Edwins resigned.

She launched a grievance about how she had been treated and complained about the way women were talked to and the company then carried out an investigation, the tribunal heard.

‘In relation to comments or nicknames or so-called ‘banter’ that might be connected to sex, one interviewee recalled that Mr Kelt had said to her that she had got her ‘knickers in a twist’ and she had found this offensive,’ the hearing was told.

‘One interviewee recalls Mr Kelt using the phrase ‘pretty young lady’, and that, amongst other things, he said that he wanted a ‘pretty young lady’ on reception.’

The tribunal ruled in her favour after hearing of the chairman’s remarks to female staff and that 80 per cent of Mr Kelt’s (pictured) workers were male and ‘predominantly’ white

The tribunal heard that in 2019 Mr Kelt called a female manager an ‘old nag’, a remark that it found to be ‘a gendered comment that was used in a pejorative manner’.

‘This comment was made in the earshot of several employees, and [Ms Edwins] was one of those. [The female employee] did not like this comment.’

After her grievance was rejected, Ms Edwins took Artem to the tribunal with her claims including unfair dismissal, sex, race and age discrimination and harassment.

The majority of her case was dismissed. However, her claims of sex and race discrimination and unfair dismissal in relation to her resignation were upheld.

Although Employment Judge Patrick Quill disagreed with the panel’s majority finding, the tribunal concluded: ‘[Artem] has failed to prove that a hypothetical comparator, being a Finance Director who was a man, and whose performance, attitude and other circumstances were the same as [Ms Edwins] would have been treated the same way…

‘[And] a hypothetical comparator, being a Finance Director who was a different race to [Ms Edwins], and whose performance, attitude and other circumstances were the same as [her] would have been treated the same way.’

MailOnline has contacted Artem for comment. 

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