Hi there
So I'm currently employed in a day job in the tech industry. I've also been an escort on the DL for about 6 months and I'm enjoying it, but I'm now starting to think about dipping my toes into OnlyFans.
I'm out of the closet as a sex worker to pretty much all my friends, but obviously colleagues don't know. At present I'm telling all the OF boys that I'm gonna be filming with (after lockdown) that I can't show my face; but given that to most people in my life I'm pretty open about sex work, I'm thinking about relaxing the face requirement.
I enjoy my day job and don't want to give it up. I've had a few chats with people I know who are hiring managers in my industry and established that, in the worst case scenario (were my current employer to fire me for being a sex worker), I would probably still be able to find work as a software engineer.
So my next question is: what is the legal situation with my current employer (ie *can* my employer fire me for being a SW, given that nothing I'm doing is illegal), and for that, I'd like advice from an actual lawyer, which I'm willing to pay for. I have looked on the main website but at first glance I couldn't find anything related to my situation.
So I'm looking for the contact details of a solicitor or other source of professional legal advice that
- Is comfortable with and understands sex work really well
- Knows employment law
I'm not a legal professional but I can give you my understanding from a manager's point of view, who was involved extensively in hiring and firing.
You have two scenarios here:
1. Your existing employer finds out you are in sex work.
What they can do depends on the terms and conditions of your employment contract. Many (probably most) employers have a catch-all term such as "any other action which may bring the company into disrepute". This allows them to dismiss someone who is caught doing something not necessarily illegal but what many perceive to be unethical or immoral. For example, caught on CCTV making a Nazi salute or spitting on the grave of a war hero.
If they don't have that phrase available, but they want you gone, they will attempt to manage you out. There are plenty of ways of doing this, most of them technically illegal but very hard to prove. Some organisations would try offering a golden handshake instead.
As a gay man, you might actually have more legal protection as you could take the position that you'd been treated more harshly than a straight female escort would have been. And most companies would probably agree to settle out of court. However it's important to remember that claims for unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal etc only happen AFTER you've been fired and left salary-less for however long (which can be years with complex cases.)
2. You leave (or are fired from) your current employer and you're trying to get another job.
In this case, I think it's unlikely that any employer would turn around and openly say "Yeah we're not hiring you because you used to be a hooker. Soz!" They would simply say that your references weren't good enough or that another candidate had the edge. If they found out, and if they gave a shit. It really depends on the individual hiring manager and the company, as well as the role. If it's a role where you'd be managing people and dealing with high-level managers/board members, and it was common knowledge, they might feel that your reputation would negatively impact your role. If however you were dealing with "things" (data, machines, networks) and your role didn't impact colleagues or customers directly, then they might well take the view "Well Alex may or may not know his way around a cock but he definitely knows his way around an RJ45 cable, and that's good enough for us!"
TL;DR: Bear in mind that just because the law is (or might be) on your side, that doesn't mean that people won't still find a way to fuck with your employment if they feel like it.
Topic: Legal advice (Read 1088 times)