€30,000 compensation for sexually-harassed waitress

A WAITRESS who was sexually harassed by a customer at the hotel where she worked has been awarded €30,000 in compensation from her employers by the Equality Tribunal.

The tribunal found that the woman’s employers failed to protect her from sexual harassment and were responsible for “discriminatory dismissal” as she felt compelled to resign after they failed to adequately deal with the incident.

The woman, who is Spanish, her assailant and the hotel were not named by the tribunal.

The complainant told the tribunal she had been preparing breakfast in the hotel at 7am when a man she did not recognise entered the kitchen. He appeared to be intoxicated, the tribunal heard. He then came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her chest, she said.

She broke free, slapped him across the face and shouted “don’t touch me”. He was then asked to leave the kitchen by a night porter.

She refused to serve the man breakfast, but did finish her shift. Later that day she made a complaint to the general manager and was subsequently called to his office. When she went in the customer was waiting for her. He denied the incident and offered what she felt was a token apology.

She made a written complaint and asked about the hotel’s procedures for dealing with such an incident, but she said the general manager proposed no action for dealing with her complaint.

The following month she was serving behind the bar and saw the same customer talking to the general manager. She asked another senior staff member if she could be moved to work in the restaurant. She said she subsequently received a “hostile” phone call from the general manager. She later went on certified sick leave and eventually resigned.

The customer told the tribunal he put his hands on her hips, not her chest, as “a greeting” and that he would greet a male stranger in a similar way. The general manager confirmed he had been a friend of the customer since childhood and it would not be unusual for him to come into the kitchen for a cup of tea. The manager said the incident was “nothing serious”.

The tribunal found it was immaterial what part of the woman’s body the customer had touched, the incident constituted sexual harassment and “cannot possibly be interpreted as a greeting”.

In a separate case, a wheelchair user was awarded €750 from car hire company Enterprise Rent-a-Car for failing to provide him with a vehicle.

Ciarán Goulding said he sought a car with hand controls instead of pedals but was told by the company that they had no such vehicles and could not help him. The tribunal found the company did not directly discriminate against Mr Goulding under the disability ground, but did fail to provide “reasonable accommodation” for him.