Women (and men) who are harassed by public can sue the boss (UK)

Tyrael · #1 14th-March-2007

Quote:

Women who are harassed by public can sue the boss

March 13, 2007

Frances Gibb, Legal Editor
Women subjected to sexual humiliation or harassment by the public in course of their jobs won the right to claim against their employers in a massive extension of the law yesterday.

The High Court ruling makes clear that harassment laws must go beyond protecting women from abusive colleagues and extend to the behaviour of customers, clients and members of the public.

Women and men would be protected from harassment in any job where they meet the public Â— from pubs and hotels to hospitals and airports.

Ministers now have seven days to overhaul the equality laws to strengthen womenÂ’s rights after the ruling that the Government has failed to meet its obligations under EU law.

The decision, in a challenge brought by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), could prompt an avalanche of tribunal claims over harassment unless employers act quickly.

The main target is the hotel and restaurant trade, which employs 670,000 women and where the EOC says that harassment is Â“rifeÂ”. But workers, mainly women but also men, would equally be protected in their jobs as hospital or transport staff.

Mr Justice Burton ruled that the GovernmentÂ’s regulations on womenÂ’s rights during maternity leave were unclear and that women risked losing the full protection against pregnancy discrimination that they now have under UK case law.

Jenny Watson, chairman of the EOC, said: Â“This decision is a welcome result for the thousands of vulnerable women who suffer pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment every year.Â”

Between 2001-05, the EOC says there were 260 successful employment tribunal cases involving sexual harassment Â— an average of one a week.

The equality watchdog took the Government to court, accusing it of failing to implement the EUÂ’s 2002 equal treatment directive to increase protection for women workers.

It complained that regulations amending the Sex Discrimination Act, which took effect in October 2005, fell short of the directiveÂ’s intention Â— to ensure that women in the workplace were not subjected to Â“any unwanted conduct related to their sex which violates their dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environmentÂ”.

An example was that the current law excluded harassment by an employerÂ’s clients or customers, even if the employer knew about it but took no action. But Mr Justice Burton ruled that a woman is protected against harassment, and an employer liable for it, if the employer knows of continuing or regular objectionable conduct and fails to act.

Mr Justice Burton also ruled that women must be protected by sex discrimination laws if denied certain benefits during maternity leave, such as being consulted about organisational changes.

Ms Rose argued that the regulations left pregnant women in a worse position than the old law. To win a discrimination case, pregnant women might have to show that their employers treated them worse than if they had not been pregnant.

The EOC said it was Â“concerned that the lack of clarity . . . could lead to expensive, stressful and time consuming litigationÂ”.

Duty of care

-Sexual abuse and harassment can be almost an occupational hazard in jobs such as bar-tending or working in hospital accident and accident and emergency departments

-Although employers cannot eliminate the risk entirely, they must now take steps to reduce it as far as possible and to ensure that workers know how to react

-Failure to do so will leave them vulnerable to claims in tribunals

-Anne Pritam, an employment law partner with Fox Williams, said: Â“This ruling really clarifies what courts have been saying anyway Â— but the Government, in its equality regulations has been slow to catch upÂ”

Link.

This law will affect men and women. It's misleading that the author only put women in the headline. Anyway it's quite stupid to shift the blame to the bosses for such things, because they aren't around all the time to prevent such things.

Dr David Banner · #2 15th-March-2007

Tyrael
....ALL OF THIS IS TO KEEP Jenny Watson,and her EOC biddies in jobs.
They are interfering busy bodies and they all should be disbanded.
There also exists Humans Rights Commission, a Childrens Commission,(They have these in some parts of the UK I am not sure about England anyone know?)
Alll these and the Equality Commission how much do they contribute to the welfare of the public - in real terms how much? All they are is a drain and a burden of useless beauracracy on the truly productive they are self serving PARASITES.
Who pays for them? Us men.mostly the ones they spend their "working" lives undermining.

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Women (and men) who are harassed by public can sue the boss (UK)

Women (and men) who are harassed by public can sue the boss (UK)

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