A woman who claimed she was subjected to a campaign of bullying in her workplace after she made a complaint of sexual harassment against a member of management has been awarded more than €12,000 compensation.
The award was made by an Employment Appeals Tribunal to Ms Sandra Browne, Cross Avenue, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, who it found had been constructively dismissed from her job as a receptionist by Ventelo Telecommunications (Ireland) Ltd, GTS House, Barrow Street, Dublin.
The tribunal heard Ms Browne began working with the company in January 1999. In October she complained she had been subjected to sexual harassment by a male member of staff. The complaint was upheld and the member of staff offered an apology. Nonetheless, Ms Browne felt her relationship with the company's human resources manager deteriorated after she made the complaint. A few months later she was demoted.
A disciplinary hearing was held in September 2000 at which issues were raised as to her work performance and her level of absenteeism. She said she had taken a lot of sick days due to stress. She felt she had no alternative but to hand in her notice.
The company's human resources manager told the tribunal the claimant's performance at work showed many gaps. No other employee was complained about as much. The manager said she never instigated or took part in any campaign against her.
The tribunal found that "the intolerable conditions which the claimant was exposed to forced her to resign". It described the company's conduct as "disgraceful" and said the company had failed to appreciate the gravity of the wrongdoing by a member of management, who asked Ms Browne if she was "good in the sack" after she had finalised travel arrangements for him. It awarded her €12,697.38.