Sexual harassment complaints and allegations

The MeToo movement has helped to uncover the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. This has led to a significant increase in the number of workers coming forward to raise a complaint and take legal action.

Following the MeToo movement, it has become even more important for employers to adopt a proactive and robust approach to dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. However, many employers fail to do so effectively and, as a result, many employees - both men and women - continue to face sexual harassment.

Actions by an employee during the course of their employment will generally be deemed as acts of the employer, irrespective of whether the employer is aware of such acts. Therefore, your employer can also be held liable.

For an employee facing allegations of sexual harassment, this could cause significant and lasting career and reputational damage and must be carefully managed. Your employer must carry out a fair investigation before taking any disciplinary action against you and you have a right to be treated fairly during the process.

Employees facing a sexual harassment complaint will benefit from instructing an employment lawyer to provide guidance, as the impact on your future career or the damage to your reputation can be significant.

Whether you are lodging a complaint against someone or have had a complaint raised against you, our employment team at Penningtons Manches Cooper includes some of the region’s top-ranked employment lawyers with extensive experience of representing employees of all levels.