Tag archives: harassment

D.C. Circuit Draws Line Between Protected Labor Activities and Discipline-Worthy Employee Misconduct

Photo of Kevin MacNeillBy Kevin MacNeill on Posted in United States
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act) gives employees the right to form unions, bargain collectively and to “engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of … mutual aid or protection”. Speaking out about conditions of employment on behalf of a group of employees would fall  within this protection. And, section 8 … Continue reading

Calling a man “bald” can amount to harassment related to sex

Global Workplace InsiderBy Safwan Afridi on Posted in General, UK
The Employment Tribunal (ET) has found that an employee that was called “a bald ****” by a fellow male colleague was harassed based on his sex. The Claimant presented a number of other claims against the Respondent, including unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, victimisation and health and safety detriments; however, this post focuses on the Claimant’s … Continue reading

Government introduces legislative changes following the Respect@Work report

Photo of Alexandra ShieldsPhoto of John TullioBy Alexandra Shields and John Tullio on Posted in Australia, Discrimination and harassment
On 24 June 2021, the Federal Government introduced the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendments Bill 2021 (Cth) (Bill) into the Senate.  The Bill amends both the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FWA) in response to the Respect@Work report (the Report) and implements many … Continue reading

AHRC Report: ASX200 companies and sexual harassment

Photo of Alexandra ShieldsPhoto of John TullioBy Alexandra Shields and John Tullio on Posted in Australia, Discrimination and harassment
On 17 June 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) released the “Equality across the board: Investing in workplaces that work for everyone (2021)” report (AHRC Report).  The report collates survey and interview data from 118 ASX200 listed companies to portray how these companies are currently combatting the issue of sexual harassment and makes recommendations … Continue reading

“Stale” and “ineffective” training is insufficient to establish the reasonable steps defence

Photo of Joanna MacKenzieBy Joanna MacKenzie on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, UK
A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Allay (UK) Limited v Mr S Gehlen provides useful guidance to employers seeking to rely on the “reasonable steps” defence to a claim of discrimination, harassment or victimisation. An employer can be liable for acts of discrimination, harassment and victimisation carried out by its employees … Continue reading

Allégations de harcèlement sexuel sur les réseaux sociaux au Québec : ce que les employeurs doivent savoir

Photo of Carl TrudeauBy Carl Trudeau and Antoine Gagnon on Posted in Canada, Québec
Au courant des dernières semaines, nous avons pu assister à de nombreuses dénonciations publiées sur les médias sociaux eu égard à des allégations de harcèlement sexuel, qu’elles soient publiées à visage découvert ou bien de manière anonyme. Une question qui se pose pour un employeur est de déterminer comment gérer de telles allégations de nature … Continue reading

This is not a locker room: Do not publicly criticize your employees

Photo of Sadaf SamimBy Sadaf Samim on Posted in Canada
Toronto Raptors head coach  recently made headlines for unfiltered comments about his team members. This season, he has publicly called out a number of them for their poor performances. Some have commended him for giving team members the motivation they needed to perform better – by providing them with “tough love” instead of sugar-coating the truth about … Continue reading

France: Le harcèlement sexuel susceptible d’être exclu en cas d’attitude ambigüe de la victime

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Le harcèlement sexuel est défini, dans le Code du travail, par « des propos ou comportements à connotation sexuelle répétés qui soit portent atteinte à [la] dignité [du salarié] en raison de leur caractère dégradant ou humiliant, soit créent à son encontre une situation intimidante, hostile ou offensante ». Le Code du travail prévoit également une … Continue reading

France: Provocative acts do not necessarily fall within the scope of sexual harassment if the victim’s behaviour is ambiguous

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
The French employment Code defines sexual harassment as “repeated sexual comments or conduct that either violate the [employee’s] dignity because of their degrading or humiliating nature or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against the employee“. The French employment Code also assimilates to sexual harassment “any form of serious pressure, even non-repeated, exercised for … Continue reading

Allégations d’harcèlement psychologique dans l’exercice d’activités syndicales : l’employeur doit-il intervenir ou bien s’abstenir?

Photo of Francis ChampagneBy Francis Champagne on Posted in Québec
Bien connue est l’obligation de l’employeur en vertu de la Loi sur les normes du travail (LNT) de prévenir le harcèlement psychologique, d’enquêter lorsqu’un tel comportement est porté à son attention et d’intervenir pour faire cesser la conduite harcelante. Mais que se passe-t-il lorsqu’une plainte est déposée à l’employeur pour harcèlement psychologique entre des représentants … Continue reading

Ontario Court of Appeal Decides Against Recognizing Tort of Harassment

Global Workplace InsiderBy Toronto E&L Group on Posted in Canada
On March 15, 2019, The Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Merrifield v. Canada (Attorney General), reversing a trial decision in which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had recognized the existence of a common law “tort of harassment”. The plaintiff’s claim was based on conduct that he had experienced during his employment … Continue reading

Dismissal for misconduct cannot be based (solely) on anonymous reports

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France, Whistleblowing
Anonymous reports have been mistrusted for a number of years in France, for historical reasons. While anonymity enables individuals to raise their voice more openly, without being the targets of retaliation measures, it can also drift into slander. This explains a specificity of French law under which whistleblowers using ethicals lines are strongly encouraged to … Continue reading

AHRC launches national inquiry into sexual harassment in Australia

Photo of Alexandra ShieldsBy Alexandra Shields on Posted in Australia, Discrimination and harassment
The Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission) has recently launched an inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces (Inquiry). It seems that the ‘watershed’ moment that the #MeToo campaign was hailed as, has indeed driven the momentum to keep the issue alive and for meaningful action to come from it. There can be little argument that … Continue reading

New York City employers take note: New anti-sexual harassment laws enacted

Photo of David Gallai (US)Photo of Rachel Kurth (US)By David Gallai (US) and Rachel Kurth (US) on Posted in United States
On May 9, 2018, New York City enacted a number of laws addressing sexual harassment in the workplace.  The laws are summarized below.  New York City employers who do not yet have anti-harassment and anti-retaliation policies in place should promptly begin the process for adopting them.  New York City employers should also begin to make … Continue reading

The #MeToo Movement: When Employees Take Their Complaints to Social Media

Photo of Matt Heller (US)By Matt Heller (US) on Posted in North America, United States
As we are all aware, the news has been populated with stories concerning allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, particularly in the entertainment and media industries as well as government institutions. These stories have contributed to the “#MeToo” movement, which originated on Twitter and other social media websites in late 2017 and has since become … Continue reading

Harassment and violence in the workplace : changes to be expected for federally regulated employers

Photo of Patrick GaliziaPhoto of Philippe BélisleBy Patrick Galizia and Philippe Bélisle on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
After a few politicians at the federal and provincial levels recently stepped down because of sexual misconduct allegations, lawmakers debated Bill C-65 in the House of Commons this week. Tabled in November 2017, Bill C-65 aims to amend “the Canada Labour Code (CLC) to strengthen the existing framework for preventing harassment and violence, including sexual harassment … Continue reading

Un salarié protégé peut-il contester la rupture conventionnelle homologuée dont il a fait l’objet devant le juge judiciaire ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Les salariés protégés (représentants du personnel, délégués ou représentants syndicaux, salariés mandatés, etc.) bénéficient d’un statut particulier, eu égard à leur rôle dans l’entreprise. A ce titre, toute modification, et a fortiori, rupture de leur contrat de travail doit être autorisée par l’inspection du travail. La conclusion d’une rupture conventionnelle homologuée, quand bien même il … Continue reading

Employer ordered to pay $141,000 for tort of harassment and intentional infliction of mental suffering at the workplace

Photo of Stéphane EricksonBy Stéphane Erickson on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
In a previous post on this blog, we discussed how an employer’s non-compliance with workplace harassment and violence provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act resulted in a $70,000 fine ordered against the employer. Recently, the Superior Court reminded employers of the importance of ensuring that a harassment-free workplace is maintained and that all … Continue reading

Human resources managers can be indirectly liable for harassment

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Health and safety of employees is highly protected in France. Employers are  responsible for the prevention of any damage to their employees’ health and safety resulting from their work. Amongst other things, French law requires employers to ensure that their employees are protected from any harassment at work. But another provision of the French Employment … Continue reading

“Promising practices” encouraged by EEOC to prevent retaliation

Photo of Norlynn Price (US)By Norlynn Price (US) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued its final “Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues” following a six-month public comment period. The guidance replaces the EEOC’s 1988 Compliance Manual section on retaliation. Workplace retaliation claims have been on the rise in recent years and have been the focus of several opinions of the … Continue reading

“What are the latest developments on whistleblowing in the workplace in Germany?”

Photo of Jannis BreitschwerdtBy Jannis Breitschwerdt on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, Germany, Whistleblowing
Apart from the well-known Wiki-leaks, recent prominent cases of whistleblowing such as Lux-leaks, the Panama Papers or the case of the German geriatric nurse Brigitte Heinisch, who was dismissed after revealing the ill-treatment of elderly people in a Berlin retirement home, continue to highlight the continued relevance of the topic “whistleblowing”. While this has resulted … Continue reading

EEOC continues its efforts to incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity into Title VII protections

Photo of Shafeeqa Watkins Giarratani (US)Photo of Derek Rollins (US)By Shafeeqa Watkins Giarratani (US) and Derek Rollins (US) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States
On March 1, 2016, the EEOC filed two cases with one clear goal: to expand the meaning of “sex” under Title VII. In EEOC v. Scott Medical Health Center, P.C., Case No. 2:16-cv-00225-CB (W.D. Pa.),  the agency alleges that the defendant harassed an openly gay male employee because of his sexual orientation, thereby committing unlawful … Continue reading
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