Firm owner spends day at the office in underwear after getting wet

A woman was awarded Lm2,000 in compensation after a tribunal found she was forced to leave her job due to sexual harassment.

The woman filed two cases before the Industrial Tribunal, chaired by Joseph Bonnici, against the company she worked for.

In one case she asked the tribunal to declare that her employer did not ensure she would not be subject to sexual harassment at work. In the second case she claimed she had been a victim of "constructive dismissal" that constituted unfair dismissal because she was forced to leave due to the fact that she could no longer bear her work environment.

The tribunal heard that, after getting soaked in the rain, the company owner once spent the day at the office in his underwear even though there were employees present.

Employees also made sexually-charged jokes that made the woman feel uncomfortable. The tribunal ruled that it was the responsibility of the company to ensure that all employees were treated with respect by their colleagues and to ensure that there was no sexual harassment at work. In this case, the company had failed to do so.

For this reason, the tribunal ruled that the company had failed to protect the woman from sexual harassment at work and ordered the company to pay her Lm1,000.

After hearing evidence and submissions and evaluating case law, the tribunal also ruled that the woman had been a victim of constructive dismissal and ordered the company to pay her another Lm1,000 in compensation.

Lawyer Owen Bonnici appeared for the woman.

The name of the woman and of the company are not being mentioned to protect the complainant's privacy.