When we hear of sexual harassment, our minds often think of incidents which involve physical contact or explicit advances. However, misconduct can also take more subtle forms such as sexual innuendos, suggestive comments or jokes. These remarks, often dismissed as ‘banter’, are the types of inappropriate behaviour that employees may not be aware class as sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment in the workplace remains an issue across various sectors. With the new legislation of The Worker Protection Act, it is vital for employers to take reasonable steps to preventing sexual harassment. Failing to take preventative action could result in a complainant being awarded an uplift of 25% in compensation.
Let’s take a look at some recent cases which underline the importance of raising awareness of sexual harassment with employees, ranging from explicit harassment to the more subtle and everyday workplace banter. It is important to state that whilst sexual harassment towards men happens and is an issue, it is often underreported.
1. ‘Should be taken as a compliment’ – Lidl
In this case, a female Lidl employee endured repeated sexual harassment from her manager, who made inappropriate comments about her appearance and sent her sexually explicit messages.
A deputy manager at the store told her that she would ‘look good’ in underwear that Lidl were selling. Challenging his remark, she was told ‘better get used to it.’ On another occasion, when a male employee was making sexual advances to her, the store manager dismissed the comments and said they should be taken ‘as a compliment’. The female employee verbally raised concerns and even requested to move to a store with a female branch manager but the company ignored the request.
Despite one formal written and various verbal complaints, Lidl failed to take effective steps to address the misconduct. The Employment Tribunal found that Lidl’s lack of action contributed to a toxic work environment, awarding the employee £50,000 in compensation for the harassment and emotional distress suffered.
2. Sexual advances, inappropriate comments and crude hand gestures – Windermere Manor Hotel
In this case, the head chef at the Windermere Manor Hotel faced sexual harassment when the hotel’s general manager made ‘inappropriate comments and sexual references to food‘, asking whether the chef needed ‘some alone time, dear?’ when holding a cucumber. Amongst various sexual advances was an incident where the general manager sang a sexually explicit song to the chef, maintaining eye contact and making sexual hand gestures.
The behaviour created an uncomfortable and inappropriate work environment, resulting in the claimant raising a grievance which the employer failed to address adequately, and eventually leading to the claimant to resign stating that he felt he was forced due to how he was treated.
The Employment Tribunal found that the manager’s actions amounted to sexual harassment and awarded the employee £15,000 in compensation for the distress and discomfort caused by the workplace behaviour.
3. Unwelcome looks and inappropriate remarks – Law Firm
In this case, a secretary at a law firm successfully claimed sexual harassment after enduring repeated inappropriate remarks from her boss, who made comments about her appearance and speculated about her personal life. In her seven weeks of being at the company, she endured comments such as being told she looked ‘nice’ with a ‘creepy smile’, being told sexualised stories about her boss’ life and received unwelcome looks.
The female employee raised a grievance but the firm dismissed these remarks as harmless ‘banter’. She was also accused by the panel conducting the grievance that she ‘dressed inappropriately’ and was ‘flaunting herself’ on social media, with one of the members of the panel commenting that she looked like a ‘Love Island reject’; comments that were said to further humiliate her and discredit her complaint.
The Employment Tribunal ruled in her favour, finding that the remarks were indeed sexual harassment and that the company’s investigation was biased as they were close to the accused male employee.
Pardip Singhota at Lunar HR, has noticed an influx in sexual harassment compliance questions recently and advised:
“These cases highlight what some individuals might view as ‘banter’ or an individual being ‘over-sensitive’, the legal framework makes clear that harassment places importance on the impact on the victim and how it made them feel.
“Inappropriate banter easily creeps into other aspects of work such as social media, online communication platforms used for work, social gatherings, or anywhere that is an extension of the workplace as most individuals are more casual in these environments. Another area where harassment can come from is third parties, such as contractors, customers or clients that employees have interaction with during the course of carrying out their role. This is an area that employers need to be mindful of.
“It is vital that employers take time to review The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance for employers which sets out 8 important steps to ensure compliance with the new legal duty which came into force on 26th October 2024.”
Summary
These cases emphasise the need for action and accountability, and demonstrate that there is no such thing as ‘harmless’ harassment. Sexual misconduct comes in a wide spectrum of forms ranging from physical contact to subtle behaviours, underlining the importance of raising awareness of what constitutes as sexual harassment.
These cases, which were before the introduction of The Worker Protection Act, resulted in poor mental health, paused career progression and job dissatisfaction. For the organisation the misconduct resulted in severe financial consequences and reputational damage, even more so for the ones that failed to listen to the victims, emphasising the responsibility of employers to create a safe working environment for their employees.
Sexual Harassment Training Solution
One of the eight reasonable steps that the EHRC have recommended for employers to take to comply with their new duty is to ensure all of their staff have received the relevant training on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
In line with the Worker Protection Act, our team of specialists have re-designed our Preventing Sexual Harassment training solution to define boundaries and expectations, start conversations and create a culture of speaking out (and listening).
Providing a safe and supportive environment for delegates, the session (which can be taken as a recommended half-day workshop or a webinar, supported by bitesize learning videos and toolkits) will explore the impact of sexual misconduct, understand that banter and general boundaries are different for everyone, and explore real-life examples with professional actors and the impact behaviour can have on individuals and organisations.