Vol. 544 No. 3
430 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will investigate a loophole in the legislation under section 23(3)(c) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, which states that it is the duty of a manager of a company to remove pornographic material from display in an office environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28881/01]
Section 23 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, which came into operation on 18 October 1999, states that any act, request or conduct, including the display or circulation of written words, pictures or other material in the workplace, shall constitute sexual harassment if the act, request or conduct is unwelcome and could reasonably be regarded as sexually – or otherwise on gender grounds – offensive, humiliating or intimidating. An employer may be liable for sexual harassment of his-her employees by a co-worker or by a client, customer or other business contact unless the employer takes such steps as are reasonably practicable to prevent the harassment. An employer is, therefore, entitled to request an employee to remove pornographic material from the workplace. I am satisfied that there is not a loophole in the Act. It is also worth pointing out that irrespective of the content of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, any person in control of premises is entitled to prohibit the display of offensive material on the premises.
