The Complaint
"The thought of Mr. Wong still gives me the creeps," said Brenda. For Brenda, who had been working with a well-established local firm for many years, the past two years had been a nightmare. "My immediate boss, Mr. Wong, may look professional on the surface, but for me, he is a sly fox. He would cast demeaning comments about my performance in front of my colleagues, only as an excuse to personally follow up on my performance. It is however these 'private sessions' with him that I really dreaded..."

"When we were alone in his office, he had a well-established routine that started with him expressing disappointment with my work performance or attitude. Then he would ask me how I could improve. Let me assure you, he was never really interested in my work performance. It all began one time when he summoned me into his office and began criticizing me on some trivial work matters. Then, he demanded me to undress! All of a sudden he hugged me really tight and kissed me on my lips. I didn't know how to react to this surprise attack and was completely dumbfounded and shocked."

At first Brenda believed that she had no choice but to put up with Mr. Wong; she had worked hard to get to the position where she was and she was certainly not prepared to forfeit her career. But after agonizing over the issue for two years, she decided that she could no longer tolerate Mr. Wong's attitude and behaviour. Brenda resigned.

What the EOC did
Brenda lodged two complaints with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC): one against Mr. Wong for the individual liability of sexually harassing her and the other against the company for vicarious liability of Mr. Wong's acts of sexual harassment. Brenda felt aggrieved that although the company had a sexual harassment policy, she was not aware of its existence and did not know where to seek help.

When approached by the EOC, Mr. Wong denied having kissed Brenda but readily admitted having said all the alleged offensive comments to Brenda, even though he had never intended to put them into action. In the end, he acknowledged that his demeanor had been offensive and humiliating to Brenda and agreed to write Brenda an apology letter, and offered her monetary compensation.

The company claimed to have no knowledge of Mr. Wong's behaviour and stressed that they would not have allowed it if they had been aware of it. Through conciliation, the company agreed to issue Brenda an apology letter and to take disciplinary action against Mr. Wong.

What the law says
Sexual harassment in employment is unlawful under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance. It generally refers to an unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature which the person on the receiving end would find offensive, humiliating or intimidating.

Apart from individual liability, the law also imposes vicarious liability on an employer for unlawful discrimination or harassment done by its employees in the course of employment, unless the employer could demonstrate having taken reasonable and practicable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment from happening in the workplace. Both Brenda and Mr. Wong did not seem to have knowledge of the policy. By merely having a sexual harassment policy like the employer in this case is insufficient to qualify for the defence of having taken reasonable steps, it is important that the policies are well communicated. Actual implementation of such policy, for example through providing training to employees at all levels, is essential.

Source: Equal Opportunities Commission