Navigating Workplace Harassment When Personal Relationships Sour: What Would You Do?

Dear All,

Let me share one of the problems that my friend is facing these days.

The problem:

This is a case of two colleagues in an organization. They joined the organization some 5 years back. One of them was the boss, and the other was the receptionist. They fell in love and got married 2 years back. Everything was going smoothly until there was a complaint of sexual harassment filed by the receptionist against her boss (who is, in fact, her husband in a personal relationship). The receptionist came with the complaint that this person had verbally abused her in a sexual manner.

It was a surprising situation for my HR friend. Later, he came to know that things were not going well in their personal relationship, and he also realized that the girl had asked for a divorce from her husband. Later, he also found that the complaint of this girl was true. He talked with her husband and came to the conclusion that this person was not interested in a divorce, but his wife was creating situations to force him to go for a divorce.

I do not know much about divorce and sexual harassment laws, but what I believe is that since this girl is interested in divorce, later she might file a case against her husband for divorce and use this sexual harassment case as reference (proof). My friend is quite confused, and I am very new to the HR field, so I thought to raise this issue among all you HR professionals.

What would you have done in such a situation?

Another hot steamy post has come up! Well, your friend is immature to make decisions and can't handle this situation. Why doesn't he consult his superiors? Because when you can't do it, ask your boss for advice, and let your boss handle the situation while you learn from it.

As per PMS reply, go technical and don't go emotional. If the harassment occurred at home, can it be termed as a sexual harassment case? I don't know either, so better read the rules and determine whether in this case the verbal abuse happened at the office or home.

Go by the rules because the case involves the boss harassing the receptionist. So, first, analyze the case because it might also be that the boss is innocent and the receptionist wants a divorce, so is framing the boss by faking the sexual harassment.

This post will likely spark many hot discussions from members. Let's see what we have in store. Cheers! Weekend dhamaka this post is.

Any incident that happens in the office needs to be reported in writing and not orally. So, request a written statement from the lady regarding the issue with Manager X. If she provides a written statement, speak with her Manager to discuss and clarify the complaint. Once you, as HR, are convinced, establish a committee led by a senior female employee of the company to conduct an investigation and submit a report to the Management. Based on the committee's report, HR can decide on the next steps for the company.

If the female employee is unwilling to provide a written statement, you can ask her to confirm in writing that there are no allegations against her and close the investigation. Incidents that occur at work and at home should be treated separately and should not be brought into the workplace.

Regards

As per the Sexual Harassment Act, any indecent behavior reported by a female in official premises is taken seriously, even if they are husband and wife. But if the harassment happened at home, then it needs to be reported to NCW instead of in the office. Ask your friend to sort out things at home; otherwise, things could complicate if his wife has proof against him. He definitely has to undergo serious threat, although he is not wrong.