Vol. 417 No. 5
441 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline the relevant legislation dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace; and if he will give details of the legislation-directives-recommendations available from the EC on this matter.
The Employment Equality Act, 1977 makes unlawful, in relation to employment, certain kinds of discrimination on grounds of sex or marital status. While the Act does not refer explicitly to sexual harassment, it has been successfully established that sexual harassment constitutes a form of discrimination prohibited under its provisions. In a precedent case in 1985, the Labour Court ruled that freedom from sexual harassment is a condition of work which an employee of either sex is entitled to expect. The court confirmed that it would treat any denial of that freedom as discrimination within the terms of the Employment Equality Act, 1977.
An employee who considers that she/he is being or has been sexually harassed may, therefore, refer a complaint to the Labour Court under the provisions of the Employment Equality Act, 1977.
In 1987, the Rubenstein report on the Dignity of Women at Work, which was prepared at the request of the European Commission, examined the legal protection in EC member states against sexual harassment at work. It concluded that sexual harassment was contrary to the principle of equal treatment set out in Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion and working conditions. It found, however, that Ireland was, at that stage, one of only two member states where there was a clear judicial acceptance that proven sexual harassment constituted sex discrimination.
During the Irish Presidency of the EC Council of Ministers for Social Affairs, and at the initiative of the Irish Presidency, a Resolution on the Protection of the Dignity of Women and Men at Work was adopted in May 1990. As a direct result of the adoption of this resolution, the European Commission undertook the preparation of a recommendation and a code of practice on the subject which were published on 4 December 1991.
