€25,000 to employee harassed by boss at work party

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has upheld a claim for sexual harassment and ordered a beauty salon to pay €25,000 in compensation to its former employee. The full decision can be found on the WRC website reference: ADJ-00025776.

What happened?

The complainant was at a staff event organised by the company in the local pub. On the night, the complainant described three incidents where the Employer touched her breasts. The complainant asked him to stop to which he replied, ‘I am going to fire you’. The complainant also recalled two incidents where the Employer caught her by the sides and brushed passed her in the workplace. On the second of these occasions the complainant was so upset that she went home immediately.

The Employer denied that he had sexually assaulted her at the staff event and claimed that the complainant was lying. Furthermore, he claimed that he was not familiar with the details of the Company Dignity and Respect at Work Policy though the Employer stated he had drafted this himself. The Employer stated a copy was nailed to a noticeboard in the rest room, however, contrary to regulations, employees were not provided with a copy of the policy.

The Employer’s assertion that the Employee was simply lying was not believed and the fact that the policies were not properly managed saw the Adjudicator award €25,000 against the Company. If you add in the loss time the business had to devote just to assist their Representatives mount a defense and the legal fees the reality is that the true cost to the Employer was probably closer to €40,000.

WRC Decision

The Adjudication Officer (AO) held that the complainant was sexually assaulted, relying on the subjective definition of sexual assault in the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015. The Company tried to defend its position by alleging that the staff event did not fall within the course of “workplace” or “work related social event”. The Adjudicator followed the decision of Maguire v North Eastern Health Board, DEC-E2002-039, File No. EE 2002/019, Employment Equality Act, 1998 in that case the decision found the following;

The complainant started employment with the respondent organisation in November, 2001 as a Care Attendant in a temporary capacity. He claimed that three weeks after commencing employment it was discovered that he was a member of the Traveller Community and as a result attitudes towards him changed. At the Christmas Party he alleges that he was called a “knacker”. According to the complainant he asked the Director of Nursing to intervene to ensure that this did not happen again but she refused. Subsequent to this incident the complainant was dismissed.

In the case ADJ-00025776 the Adjudicator in deciding that the complainant would not have been at the social event in question had they not been employed by the respondent and on that basis the event fell within the definition of “work related social event” for the purpose of the Code of Practice (Harassment) Order 2012 (Code of Practice on Harassment).

The Adjudicator held that the attitude of Employer when confronted by the complainant was “blasé” and the fact that he did not attempt to initiate an investigation under the Dignity and Respect at Work Policy which he himself drafted was a further aggravating factor. In addition, the Adjudicator considered the Employers allegation that the complainant was upset and went home due to her own administrative error at work was a “contrivance to veil the true reason for the complainant’s upset.”

The Adjudicator concluded that the complainant was sexually harassed and that this constituted gender discrimination by the Employer under section 82 of the Employment Equality Acts 1988-2015. The Adjudicator ordered an award of compensation of €25,000, none of which was in respect of remuneration.

Consequences: the Employer is now deemed to have sexually harassed a staff member, he is out of pocket of up to ca €40k,  may have to face other staff allegations and may have a significant other to face to try and convince them of his innocence.

How do you fix it, put in place the correct policies, ensure they are delivered to everyone, get confirmation they received it, understood it and are applying it.

If ESA can help you with any of the above please don’t hesitate to contact us on 08 8774608 or [email protected].

Stay healthy and wash your hands!