How Should We Handle an Anonymous Sexual Harassment Complaint Under the 2013 Act?

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please guide me on how to deal with an anonymous complaint letter of sexual harassment. What are the provisions to address this case and how should it be handled according to the Sexual Harassment Act of 2013? Is there a specific format provided under the POSH Act for handling such cases?

Thanks and Regards

Dear Gayathri, you have received an anonymous complaint about sexual harassment. Could the complainant be anonymous, and has the identity of the person against whom the complaint is made been disclosed? If yes, then keep this person under surveillance. Find out how many women employees are working under or associated with this person. Is there any woman whose body language shows that she is upset? Is this person calling women employees into his cabin and spending a long time with them? Is this person staying beyond office hours, and is he forcing any woman to stay late as well?

You may circulate a notice to all women employees stating that they are free to make a complaint about sexual harassment, and your organization will take strict action against the individual the complaint is made against. The complaint must be backed by material evidence. However, before issuing this notice to women, make sure that you have the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) well in place and that it is functional too.

You have also raised another post stating that you wanted to take training on sexual harassment. However, merely taking the training yourself is not sufficient. You need to educate all the women in your organization on what sexual harassment is and what their rights are under this sexual harassment act. You may conduct a seminar on this subject. In this seminar, what does not constitute sexual harassment should also be covered.

The Sexual Harassment Act was passed in 2013, and now in 2017, you have come up with a query on how to handle the situation upon the receipt of an anonymous letter on sexual harassment. In another post, you have raised a query to confirm the agencies that conduct training on sexual harassment. Both of your queries cast an unflattering light on you and your organization. Possibly, the very cause of the anonymity of the complainant could be a lack of trust due to your poor awareness and your organization's unpreparedness to handle these sensitive issues.

We need to look at the situation from another angle as well. Has any employee attempted to tarnish the image of the person against whom the complaint has been made? In such a case, the writer of the anonymous letter may not necessarily be a woman; it could be a man as well, and such a letter might have been sent to settle a score. Therefore, be cautious before jumping to any conclusions.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Gayathri, to sum up and add to Dinesh Sir's points:

1. The Internal Complaint Committee shall delve into details and prepare a report within set timelines without informing the accused party and the accuser, as laws and regulations are lenient on anonymous complaints.
2. Increase the surveillance on whom the complaint has been made.
3. Collate and analyze the working conditions of both parties.
4. Monitor and document the series of events and incidents.
5. After carefully studying the above, the ICC may arrive at a conclusion for further investigations and adjourning the case.

There are chances that an anonymous complaint may be false. This part has to be dealt with very diligently because it may lead to spoiling the culture of the organization. We have to fairly see both sides of the coin.

Hope that this is useful.

Regards,
Amol Nakve

Dear Gayathri,

The complaint may be anonymous, but you should not ignore it. Be vigilant if there is something that will come to notice. Do you have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)? If not, then form an Internal Complaints Committee immediately.

Place the complaint before the Internal Complaints Committee if it already exists. Our colleague Mr. Dinesh Divkar has rightly suggested considering all angles. Your proactiveness will help you handle the matter well.

Regards