How Should Internal Committees Handle a Complainant's Reluctance to Attend Proceedings with the Respondent Present?

What should Internal Committees do if a woman employee complainant is unwilling to attend IC proceedings in the presence of the employee-respondent?

When the Internal Committee issued a notice advising the aggrieved woman employee complainant to attend and participate in the IC proceedings on a specified date, time, and place (office meeting room), she wrote back expressing her unwillingness to attend the scheduled IC proceedings in the presence of the employee-respondent, even though she was on duty at her workplace. The IC had also issued a notice to the employee-respondent, advising him to attend the IC proceedings and avail himself of all reasonable opportunities to defend against the allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him by the aforementioned woman employee complainant in her written complaints emailed seven days ago.

Moot point: What should internal committees or employers do in such a situation?

Any advice, direction, or guidance from subject-matter experts and HR management practitioners is welcome.

Harsh Kumar Sharan,

Kritarth Consulting, Special Educator PoSH Programs

#allaboutposh #PoshMasters; Kritarth Blog: https://holistichr.blogspot.com/

10.7.2020

It is the right of the complainant not to attend an in-person meeting with the respondent. However, cross-examination is also a right for both parties. In this case, the law clearly states that the IC cannot force the complainant to attend and instead should receive questions from the respondent in writing and the responses to those questions from the complainant in writing, and so on. This process may be tedious, but it is necessary to comply with the law.

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Regards, Pallavi Pareek
Founder, www.ungender.in