Employers should take note of one of the most recent Equality Tribunal decisions, especially those with no employee handbooks or documentation in place.
In this case, Attila Marton Ajtai v McDonnell Brothers Agricultural Ltd. (DEC-E2013-167), the tribunal specifically highlighted that the Company had no formal policies or procedures in place for dealing with harassment and that this severely hampered their ability to deal with the situation.
Background
The employee was a Hungarian national of the Roma community. In 2010 he alleged that two colleagues made racial slurs against him, including comments relating to ‘white power’ and making the Nazi salute. He received slaps to his neck while eating his lunch and on three occasions in one week he tasted soap in his sandwiches. The complainant made a number of verbal complaints. He also reported the matter to the Gardaí. He alleges that his manager shouted at him for going to the Gardaí and Citizens Information Centre.
The Employer has stated that the employee’s complaints were investigated and that it formally interviewed the two alleged offenders who both denied the allegations.
Equality Officer Determination
The Tribunal took the view that it was satisfied that the employee had been subjected to racial slurs and degrading and humiliating treatment by the two co-workers.
The Tribunal found that in order to investigate the complaint the employee was required to submit his complaint formally in writing, however the manner in which the employer dealt with this left something to be desired as he took a ‘very informal approach to the matter’.
No Policies or Procedures
It was held that no formal notes were kept, no outcome of the enquiries no sanctions given etc. and that the employer had “no policy or procedure in the workplace to deal with an allegation of harassment”.
Ultimately the employer was not entitled to rely on the defence provided in the Employment Equality Acts as it had no policy or procedure in place in addition to the failure to take definitive action to deal with the complaint as per section 15 (3) which states ‘that the employer took such steps as were reasonably practicable to prevent the employee (a) from doing that act, or (b) from doing in the course of his or her employment acts of that description’.
Compensation
In this case the Equality Officer awarded the employee €20,000 in respect of the harassment on the grounds of race and had earlier commented that given the serious nature of the racial abuse, a comprehensive thorough investigation was required in the situation.
It is important for employers to ensure there are adequate policies and procedures in place to deal with such issues if they hope to have any defense in a tribunal.
