Maximum award made in sexual harassment case

In November 2004, Ireland's Equality Tribunal ruled in favour of a woman who had complained of sexual harassment and victimisation, and awarded her the maximum amount allowed under the relevant legislation. The Equality Authority has welcomed what it sees as a significant ruling.

On 29 November 2004, the Equality Tribunal issued its decision in a case of alleged sexual harassment and victimisation, Ms A vs A Contract Cleaning Company, in which the complainant was represented by the Equality Authority. The complainant's case was upheld and she was awarded EUR 21,000 - the equivalent of 104 weeks' pay, which is the maximum allowed under the Employment Equality Acts (IE9909144F and IE0109101F). In making his decision, an Equality Officer at the Tribunal stated that he felt 'constrained by the statute in the level of compensation which I could order and had that constraint not been placed upon me I would have ordered a significantly higher award given the severity of the treatment to which the complainant was subjected to'.

The complainant worked as a cleaner and was assigned cleaning duties at a shopping centre. The harasser worked for another company as a security guard at the shopping centre. The complainant experienced the 'cold shoulder' from some of her colleagues after reporting the harassment, and her working relationship with them, which had previously been good, deteriorated. She was threatened with dismissal if she did not drop her complaint to the police (Gardaí) and was persuaded her to drop this complaint. She was also subjected to the respondent company’s internal disciplinary procedure, during which a previous incident of sexual harassment was discussed and where her supervisor implied to those participating in the disciplinary procedure that the complainant was lying about the incident.

The Equality Officer found that the complainant was sexually harassed, that the respondent did not take such steps as were reasonably practicable after the complainant reported the incident, and that the actions of the respondent after the incident constituted victimisation of the complainant.

Niall Crowley, the chief executive of the Equality Authority, said that the case 'sets a standard in making the maximum award which is not only proportionate but also dissuasive'. He said that the case established 'the inappropriateness of the respondent’s reactions to the incident, the flawed manner in which the respondent abdicated responsibility for the issue to the harasser’s employer and the flawed nature of the investigation conducted by the employer of the harasser'.