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Sexual harassment – what are your options?

1 July 2005

In March 2004 the Cape High Court ordered Media 24 and Gasant Samuels jointly and severally to pay almost R777 000 to Mrs Sonja Grobler, a secretary formerly employed by Nasionale Tydskrifte. The Supreme Court of Appeal has since upheld the Cape High Court’s finding that Samuels had sexually harassed Mrs Grobler over a period of six months.  

This and a number of other groundbreaking judgments concerning the employer’s liability for sexual harassment in the workplace, both in terms of the common law and the Employment Equity Act, has prompted NEDLAC to draft a new Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases (2005 Code).  The implementation of the 2005 Code is imminent.

Last night saw the launch of the book “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Law, Policies and Processes” at the offices of Routledge Modise Moss Morris Attorneys in Sandton. The book was co-authored by Professor Alan Rycroft, lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Rochelle le Roux, lecturer at the University of Cape Town and Ms Thandi Orleyn, director at Routledge Modise Moss Morris Attorneys.

Prominent business people, notable judges, legal professionals and the press attended the function.  Judge Mahomed Navsa, one of the Supreme Court of Appeal judges in the Media 24 case, gave the key note address.  The event was featured on the main news bulletin at 7:00 on Morning Live on SABC today.

Thandi Orleyn, director at Routledge Modise Moss Morris says: “It is very difficult to define sexual harassment and in our book we have analysed sexual harassment based on international experience and the legislative and case law development in our country.”

The authors recognised that sexual harassment is both a legal issue and a practical problem, and the book is structured in a way that deals both with the legal issues of definition, interpretation of law, and vicarious liability, as well as offering practical guidance on good practices, mediation and other procedures. As a consequence the book, while exploring and debating the complex legal issues raised by the subject area in a manner that will be useful to legal practitioners and academic researchers, also offers, in an uncomplicated style, useful guidelines to those who are often the first to deal with employees’ claims of sexual harassment in the workplace: human resource managers, industrial relations managers and employment equity officers.