Editorial

An industrial tribunal ruling that found a female employee had been victim of sexual harassment at the workplace, after a manager suggested she “sit between my legs” when she couldn’t find a chair at a meeting for directors, has provoked much debate this week.

The incident surrounding Malta’s first case of confirmed verbal sexual abuse has largely drawn condemnation for a team leader’s inexcusable behaviour. In some quarters, however, it has been dismissed as gross exaggeration, over-reaction, and shrugged off as “boys will be boys”.

If for nothing else, the case will serve as an eye-opener. Men and women who are tempted to utter unguarded vulgar or sexually charged comments that hurt and humiliate, even if intended as a “joke”, now know that those on the receiving end will be awarded redress if they are courageous enough to pursue a legal case.

It also proves that those tasked with deciding such cases, in whichever legal setting, will not see the “funny” side of the matter. Rather, they will take the consequences of such acts, like the wider effect on people’s marriages and the need to resort to therapy (as in this victim’s case) very seriously indeed.

The tribunal’s award of just €2,000 compensation is, in truth, purely nominal. The damages will have been considerably eroded by legal fees and do not make good for loss of income, particularly as the lady resigned a month after the 2007 incident. This case will hardly give rise to a compensation culture or usher in a queue of plaintiffs through industrial tribunal doors.

Even more telling is that one of Malta’s largest companies was given 40 days to pay up. The ruling hardly hit the manager anywhere painful; he got off fairly lightly with just a verbal warning and a request to make a formal apology. Rather than the legal outcome, the real deterrents to such conduct unbecoming could prove to be the risk of a mention in a front page story in a newspaper and tarnishing the employer’s reputation.

Many other shortcomings still have to be addressed if verbal sexual abuse is to be curbed to any degree. Organisations must shoulder the responsibility to ensure appropriate structures are in place so that harassed employees can file reports without fear of accusations of exaggeration, or of risking recrimination or victimisation. Policies surrounding sexual harassment of any kind must be made clear to employees across the ranks, and give guarantees that incidents will be taken seriously, all sides will be heard, and that action will be taken swiftly.

Business is about human relationships. Good business practices also encompass the necessity to foster a respectful, transparent and healthy working environment, where people are accountable for their actions. It is imperative that firms make it amply clear that provocation involving language, gestures or dress is unacceptable.

Work, after all, is dignity. If some people are going to work and putting up with degrading remarks or advances for fear of not being taken seriously if they speak up, as seems to be the case, then the relevant authorities should step in.

Jokes should be funny and harmless. Verbal sexual abuse could ultimately see the victims laughing all the way to the tribunal, in a manner of speaking. In truth, no-one really has the last laugh in such cases. It all ends in humiliation all round.