A woman who was on track to become one of a handful of female steam locomotive drivers in the country has claimed she was sacked after complaining about sexist treatment.
Railway enthusiast Joanne Crompton says she was dismissed from her position as a volunteer with East Lancashire Railway (ELR) after complaining about misogynistic behaviour and discriminatory treatment.
Ms Crompton, who had hoped to become the ELR’s first female steam train driver, was left devastated after being “sacked” from her volunteer role.
A previous complaint she made about “deficiencies” in the steam driver training assessment used by the railway had been upheld by an internal investigation, during which she claimed she was being treated differently to male trainee drivers
ELR said the investigation related to the processes used for all volunteers going through steam train driver training. It denied that Ms Compton had been treated unfairly.
Ms Crompton, who had been a volunteer for 10 years, also complained about being sexually harassed by a manager at ELR who allegedly sent her innappropriate text messages. An investigation into these claims was found to be inconclusive.
A friend said: “Joanne was sexually harassed by someone in a position of responsibility. She was sent several offensive and inappropriate text messages. It was extremely upsetting for someone who had devoted so much time to growing and developing heritage railways.”
‘Culture needs to change’
The 46-year-old accountant, who has been shortlisted as Inspirational Woman of the Year at May’s Women in Railway Awards for her work as a heritage railway steam locomotive fireman with Llangollen Railway, said that the “actions of the ELR are the very reason why culture needs to change”.
She added: “The railway industry must be a safe and positive place for all women.”
Ms Crompton, who has been shortlisted for a Women in Railway Award in May, claimed that the line’s general manager, Tracey Parkinson, wanted “to protect the reputation of the railway”.
In a statement posted on social media, she said: “[The general manager] felt that I was bringing the railway into disrepute through social media and that by complaining through the proper channels and highlighting the toxic culture and failures that are affecting areas of the organisation I was ‘a drain on resources’.”
Ms Crompton, of Darwen, Lancs, added: “Rather than tackle the issues of unfair and discriminatory treatment and sexual harassment, she chose to get rid of ‘the problem’.”
The ELR runs from Heywood on the outskirts of Greater Manchester to Rawtenstall, one of the best-preserved mill towns in the country, through Bury, Ramsbottom and Irwell Vale.
It prides itself on being a family friendly line with events including Harry Potter wizarding adventures, 1940s weekends and Thomas the Tank Engine days.
Soured the atmosphere
But there are fears the dispute with Ms Crompton has soured the atmosphere and created tension between some volunteers and the ELR’s board of directors.
Ms Parkinson, ELR general manager, was elected this month to the Heritage Railway Association Board as a director.
Mike Kelly, chairman of the East Lancashire Railway, said: “We concluded two independent investigations as a result of grievances raised by Joanne Crompton and have just received an appeal which means we are limited in what we can share.
“The first was about our processes used for all volunteers going through steam driver training. The investigation highlighted a deficiency in the steam driver training assessment and is subject to a review.
“We are now in the process of doing this, however, this was not a case of discrimination against Joanne but a general problem that needed fixing.”
He added: “Our exhaustive independent investigation into Joanne’s second grievance was inconclusive. We understand that this has been difficult for Joanne – this has also taken an emotional toll on our volunteer community.
“We’ve asked Joanne to no longer actively volunteer at the railway. We share her sadness that it has come to this but wish her all the best for the future.”
[deleted]
The Chairman of the East Lancashire Railway has been blocking anyone supportive of Joanne on twitter including people who have not interacted with him, a number of the people blocked hold senior positions in the rail industry.
So she had the texts but still decided it was inconclusive. I wish we could see them too.
Seems like a classic case of victim blaming. And it also seems that the sexism comes right from the top.
Doesn’t really surprise me. A lot of heritage railways are run by grumpy old men who view women doing anything on their train sets beyond selling tickets or sandwiches as the devil’s work.
Post the evidence. I see too many people telling us the same thing for everyone to be lying. Let’s see the texts. If they’re too suggestive then the other party will have a case to answer.
This doesn’t surprise me. I did some volunteer work for a heritage railway but left because of their outdated work culture. Too many old British Rail staff who believed that heritage railways should also retain heritage working practices. My major concern was their total disregard for safe methods of work, like wearing respirators when cleaning out the smokebox or ashpan. They never provided them and ridiculed people like me who brought our own.
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A woman who was on track to become one of a handful of female steam locomotive drivers in the country has claimed she was sacked after complaining about sexist treatment.
Railway enthusiast Joanne Crompton says she was dismissed from her position as a volunteer with East Lancashire Railway (ELR) after complaining about misogynistic behaviour and discriminatory treatment.
Ms Crompton, who had hoped to become the ELR’s first female steam train driver, was left devastated after being “sacked” from her volunteer role.
A previous complaint she made about “deficiencies” in the steam driver training assessment used by the railway had been upheld by an internal investigation, during which she claimed she was being treated differently to male trainee drivers
ELR said the investigation related to the processes used for all volunteers going through steam train driver training. It denied that Ms Compton had been treated unfairly.
Ms Crompton, who had been a volunteer for 10 years, also complained about being sexually harassed by a manager at ELR who allegedly sent her innappropriate text messages. An investigation into these claims was found to be inconclusive.
A friend said: “Joanne was sexually harassed by someone in a position of responsibility. She was sent several offensive and inappropriate text messages. It was extremely upsetting for someone who had devoted so much time to growing and developing heritage railways.”
‘Culture needs to change’
The 46-year-old accountant, who has been shortlisted as Inspirational Woman of the Year at May’s Women in Railway Awards for her work as a heritage railway steam locomotive fireman with Llangollen Railway, said that the “actions of the ELR are the very reason why culture needs to change”.
She added: “The railway industry must be a safe and positive place for all women.”
Ms Crompton, who has been shortlisted for a Women in Railway Award in May, claimed that the line’s general manager, Tracey Parkinson, wanted “to protect the reputation of the railway”.
In a statement posted on social media, she said: “[The general manager] felt that I was bringing the railway into disrepute through social media and that by complaining through the proper channels and highlighting the toxic culture and failures that are affecting areas of the organisation I was ‘a drain on resources’.”
Ms Crompton, of Darwen, Lancs, added: “Rather than tackle the issues of unfair and discriminatory treatment and sexual harassment, she chose to get rid of ‘the problem’.”
The ELR runs from Heywood on the outskirts of Greater Manchester to Rawtenstall, one of the best-preserved mill towns in the country, through Bury, Ramsbottom and Irwell Vale.
It prides itself on being a family friendly line with events including Harry Potter wizarding adventures, 1940s weekends and Thomas the Tank Engine days.
Soured the atmosphere
But there are fears the dispute with Ms Crompton has soured the atmosphere and created tension between some volunteers and the ELR’s board of directors.
Ms Parkinson, ELR general manager, was elected this month to the Heritage Railway Association Board as a director.
Mike Kelly, chairman of the East Lancashire Railway, said: “We concluded two independent investigations as a result of grievances raised by Joanne Crompton and have just received an appeal which means we are limited in what we can share.
“The first was about our processes used for all volunteers going through steam driver training. The investigation highlighted a deficiency in the steam driver training assessment and is subject to a review.
“We are now in the process of doing this, however, this was not a case of discrimination against Joanne but a general problem that needed fixing.”
He added: “Our exhaustive independent investigation into Joanne’s second grievance was inconclusive. We understand that this has been difficult for Joanne – this has also taken an emotional toll on our volunteer community.
“We’ve asked Joanne to no longer actively volunteer at the railway. We share her sadness that it has come to this but wish her all the best for the future.”
[deleted]
The Chairman of the East Lancashire Railway has been blocking anyone supportive of Joanne on twitter including people who have not interacted with him, a number of the people blocked hold senior positions in the rail industry.
So she had the texts but still decided it was inconclusive. I wish we could see them too.
Seems like a classic case of victim blaming. And it also seems that the sexism comes right from the top.
Doesn’t really surprise me. A lot of heritage railways are run by grumpy old men who view women doing anything on their train sets beyond selling tickets or sandwiches as the devil’s work.
Post the evidence. I see too many people telling us the same thing for everyone to be lying. Let’s see the texts. If they’re too suggestive then the other party will have a case to answer.
This doesn’t surprise me. I did some volunteer work for a heritage railway but left because of their outdated work culture. Too many old British Rail staff who believed that heritage railways should also retain heritage working practices. My major concern was their total disregard for safe methods of work, like wearing respirators when cleaning out the smokebox or ashpan. They never provided them and ridiculed people like me who brought our own.