Dear Claudine,
I have been employed by a Company for nearly three years. It was my 30th birthday in August and my supervisor suggested that we all have a night out to celebrate. One of my managers during the course of the evening suggested that I should go home with him. I was very embarrassed and felt that his behaviour was totally inappropriate. He made other lewd comments to me later that evening. I reported his behaviour the following morning to another of my Manager’s and he apologised stating that he would investigate my complaint. I felt upset and uncomfortable after the incident. As far as I am aware, no investigation has taken place. I am finding it very difficult to work in this environment and worry that it will happen again.
Can you please advise me what I should do?

Thanks
Michelle.

Dear Michelle,
Thank you very much for your e-mail. Firstly, Sexual harassment is considered discriminatory. The Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004 define sexual harassment as any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature. The conduct could involve acts, requests, spoken words, gestures, or the production, display or circulation of written words, pictures or other material. The unwanted conduct must have the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. Sexual Harassment is prohibited whether perpetrated by an employer, employees or customers and this can extend beyond the workplace to social events and conferences. From your instructions your Managers conduct clearly falls within the Acts as conduct which is prohibited and therefore discriminatory. The Employment Equality Acts places an obligation on all employers in Ireland to prevent sexual harassment at work. Employers who have taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment may have a Defence provided they have complied with the principles set out in the Code of Practice on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work. This provides that an employer must show that they have comprehensive accessible and effective policies that focus on the prevention of harassment and remedial action. In addition, they must also have implemented an effective complaints procedure. From your instructions, it does not appear that any actions have been taken by your employers to prevent harassment occurring and they appear not to have implemented an effective complaints procedure clearly in breach of their obligations under the Equality Acts. When you made your complaint, your employers were under a duty to discuss their Policy setting out the procedure of what happens when they receive a complaint, how the complaint will be investigated and who will carry out the investigation. This must take into account confidentiality issues and the rights of the parties. As your employer has not addressed your complaint properly you can refer your complaint to the Equality Tribunal or directly to the Circuit Court. Complaints should be brought within six months of the most recent occurrence of discrimination. This time limit can be extended for a further six months if there is a reasonable cause for the delay. If you do not wish to refer your complaint to the Equality Tribunal or the Circuit Court then you should make it very clear to your manager that you find his behaviour and conduct offensive and unacceptable. If you find this too uncomfortable you could ask your supervisor or a work colleague to make an initial approach on your behalf. An informal approach like this can sometimes resolve the issue. However, I would advise that you keep records of your attempts to resolve the situation and notes of anything else that occurs. Unfortunately, sometimes an informal approach is simply not enough to resolve the issue and if the sexual harassment continues you may need to consider making a formal complaint to the Equality Tribunal or the Circuit Court. Please remember you only have a time limit of six months within which to refer your complaint, from the most recent occurrence of harassment. The fact that you were attending a party outside normal work hours would be considered to be work related as you would not have been present if you had not been employed by them.

I really hope that I have addressed your concerns to enable you to make a decision.

With Every Good Wish,

Claudine