Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort

Sexual harassment conducts such as patting, pinching, constant brushing or touching an inappropriate area of another person’s body, making sexually-related comments, jokes and graphic drawing, making degrading comments on one’s appearance and displaying sexually suggestive pictures, among others, ar...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali, Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig, Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu, Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2015
Subjects:	K Law (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/1/49955.pdf

id	iium-49955
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-499552018-06-25T00:17:32Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/ Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan K Law (General) Sexual harassment conducts such as patting, pinching, constant brushing or touching an inappropriate area of another person’s body, making sexually-related comments, jokes and graphic drawing, making degrading comments on one’s appearance and displaying sexually suggestive pictures, among others, are examples of situations in which the honour and dignity of an employee is violated. Such conduct, if allowed to go unchecked, would create an ‘intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment that can adversely affect the industrial relations climate in the organisation’. In most cases, the victims get annoyed, angry and even embarrassed by the unwanted sexual attention, as it belittles their person. The aggrieved worker may experience emotional trauma, anxiety, nervousness, depression and low self-esteem. Further, it may also affect the employee’s morale and job performance such as causing difficulty in concentrating on the job. Employers may avoid liability if they exercise reasonable care to prevent or correct promptly any harassing behaviour. If a co-worker is involved, employers are generally liable if they knew or should have known of the misconduct, unless they can show that they took immediate and appropriate corrective action. Further, failure to respond to bona fide complaints of sexual harassment would constitute a breach of the implied trust and confidence term. In the aforesaid breach the aggrieved employee may resign and claim constructive dismissal. This paper explores the possible causes of action in tort against the assailant and the employer of the aggrieved worker for general and specific damages for the alleged assault and battery arising from incidents of sexual harassment. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2015-11 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/1/49955.pdf Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali and Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig and Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu and Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan (2015) Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities (JSSH), 23 (S). pp. 179-190. ISSN 2231-8534 (O), 0128-7702 (P) E-ISSN 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2023%20(S)%20Nov.%202015/16%20JSSH%20Vol%2023%20(S)%20Nov%202015_pg179-190.pdf
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	K Law (General)
spellingShingle	K Law (General) Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
description	Sexual harassment conducts such as patting, pinching, constant brushing or touching an inappropriate area of another person’s body, making sexually-related comments, jokes and graphic drawing, making degrading comments on one’s appearance and displaying sexually suggestive pictures, among others, are examples of situations in which the honour and dignity of an employee is violated. Such conduct, if allowed to go unchecked, would create an ‘intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment that can adversely affect the industrial relations climate in the organisation’. In most cases, the victims get annoyed, angry and even embarrassed by the unwanted sexual attention, as it belittles their person. The aggrieved worker may experience emotional trauma, anxiety, nervousness, depression and low self-esteem. Further, it may also affect the employee’s morale and job performance such as causing difficulty in concentrating on the job. Employers may avoid liability if they exercise reasonable care to prevent or correct promptly any harassing behaviour. If a co-worker is involved, employers are generally liable if they knew or should have known of the misconduct, unless they can show that they took immediate and appropriate corrective action. Further, failure to respond to bona fide complaints of sexual harassment would constitute a breach of the implied trust and confidence term. In the aforesaid breach the aggrieved employee may resign and claim constructive dismissal. This paper explores the possible causes of action in tort against the assailant and the employer of the aggrieved worker for general and specific damages for the alleged assault and battery arising from incidents of sexual harassment.
format	Article
author	Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan
author_facet	Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig Ahmad, Abubakar Aminu Ahmed, Kyaw Hla Win @ Md Hassan
author_sort	Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
title	Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
title_short	Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
title_full	Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
title_fullStr	Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
title_full_unstemmed	Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
title_sort	sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort
publisher	Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
publishDate	2015
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49955/1/49955.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:10:36Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:10:36Z
_version_	1777411226176847872

Sexual harassment: liability of sexual harasser and employer in tort

Similar Items