Rugby star's father who deliberately coughed in female worker's face during the pandemic in bid to 'ridicule and intimidate' her is ordered to pay £26,000

A wealthy car firm boss who deliberately coughed in his female worker's face during the pandemic has been ordered to pay her £26,000.

Kevin Davies - father of British Lions and Wales rugby star Gareth Davies - set out to 'ridicule and intimidate' the worried woman over her health concerns.

A tribunal heard Mr Davies, 62, mocked the vulnerable employee at his car sales and property business in Wales in the days before lockdown after she expressed her health fears to colleagues.

The woman had asked fellow workers at Cawdor Cars to social distance from her - as was recommended by officials - because she suffered from psoriatic arthritis and an autoimmune condition.

But employment judge Tobias Vincent Ryan said Mr Davies 'coughed in her direction deliberately and loudly, commenting that she was being ridiculous'.

The woman resigned from her role and says she has been left a nervous wreck by the incident, but will now receive compensation.  

Judge Ryan said Mr Davies set out to 'ridicule and intimidate' the woman with his 'gross behaviour' on March 17, 2020 - a week before the first lockdown was announced.

The hearing was told the woman had worked for Cawdor Cars between 2017 and 2020 as a manager in their property rental section, which included hotels and housing developments. 

The employee earned £11-an-hour for her role in the successful company, which has six branches across South and West Wales.

Judge Ryan found other members of the firm's management team overheard the coughing incident.

But he said when they were called to give evidence at the tribunal, they came across 'defensively and as not being wholly straightforward'.

The tribunal heard the woman complained 'vehemently' about the coughing incident and resigned from the business in Newcastle Emlyn, West Wales, less than three months later.

Judge Ryan said: 'She resigned at least in part because she was victimised; this was a major and significant factor in her decision.

'She felt that she was being eased out partly because of her complaints. She was correct.'

The judge ordered that the woman receive a total payout of £26,438.84 - with Cawdor Cars handing her £18,000 in damages for injury to feelings and Mr Davies paying £3,841.94 for unfair dismissal and £4,596.90 in interest accumulated since the coughing incident.

Speaking after the hearing, the woman said she was left a 'nervous wreck' after Mr Davies' 'horrendous' conduct.

She said: 'He knew of my medical condition. He knew I had no immune protection because of the medication I had to take, and he deliberately coughed in my face.

'I was shaking. I'm not a silly, fluffy person - I've had to put up with a lot in my life - but it really got me.'

Mr Davies' rugby-star son, Gareth, is nicknamed Gareth Cawdor because of his connections to his father's business.

He has 77 international caps for Wales and has twice toured with the British and Irish Lions.