Sexual harassment: examples of situations in business, testifying to its complexity

Between “yes” and “almost yes”: the delicate mission of the employer in reporting sexual harassment

” Between yes and almost yes, there is a whole world ”. This observation ofAlfred de Musset could summarize in itself the delicate mission ofemployer When a Sexual harassment report is formulated.

In this hypothesis, the employer often has a tendency to adopt a particularly rigorous attitude, in particular by the Conservatory layoff of the employee (s) incriminated.

This reaction, justified by the reinforced security obligation who weighs on the employer, should not hide that the “harasser” can only be considered as such after a thorough and objective investigation, aimed at Get to the bottom of the facts and to eliminate uncertainty.

The importance of conducting an objective investigation in cases of sexual harassment

It is crucial to keep in mind that a Unfounded allegation but supported by the employer can Breaking a professional career and seriously harm the personal life of the wrongly accused employee.

In a context of complex social management, the employer must set up a thorough internal investigation, driving without prejudices, in order to shed all the light as part of the disciplinary procedure.

Two examples illustrate this difficulty perfectly.

Sexual harassment example 1: employee falsely accused?

The first example concerns a Report sexual harassment occurred during a seminar abroad.

The employee accused a colleague of Improper actions in a taxi after a professional evening. According to her, the employee left the seminary hastily to avoid any confrontation.

Faced with this report, the employer was subject to a social pressure, with some colleagues slowing down the pace of work to support the potential victim.

One thorough investigation was conducted:

• Collection of Testimonies from other employees
• Analysis of Pictures of the evening
• Verification of career path of the employee
• Making contact with the Taxi company And the subsidiaries

Result: contradictions and inconsistencies in the testimony of the potential victim, and total absence of hardware elements against the employee.

The employer therefore has closed the investigation concluding that there was no sexual harassment, informing employees and staff representatives.

Sexual harassment example 2: complexity of qualifying the facts

The second example concerns a professional trip where an employee would have held Inappropriate remarks and makes sexual advances to his hierarchical subordinate.

During the internal investigation:

• The employee recognized certain facts, defending himself from any Intent to harass
• The employee confirmed Displaced acts, but not constituting sexual harassment

The employer's dilemma: no external elements to support the decision, as the events took place in a hotel room.

Final decision: dismissal for inadequate managerial behavior, in order to respect the Principle of exemplarity expected of a manager, while remaining careful with respect to the Weak evidence.

Lessons learned from these examples

• Be wary of certainties : even if the facts seem true, a thorough and objective internal investigation is essential, in combination with staff representatives.
• No dismissal without prior investigation : no decision should be made until all elements have been considered.
• In case of insufficient or ambiguous evidence, the employer may be tempted to fire for Bring back the calm, but be careful:
  • Les Labor Court Tips systematically punish employers who have dismissed them on the basis of too fragile or insufficiently supported.