How far does the law protect employees from sexual harassment, ask Chris Bryden & Michael Salter
As the maelstrom surrounding Jimmy Savile engulfs the BBC and, if newspapers reports are to be believed, expands to other facets of the public sector, it is useful to consider how much the law has changed over a relatively short period of time and the potential exposure there may be for employers faced with allegations of sexual harassment.
In the employment context, the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) and its predecessor legislation prohibited harassment on grounds of the protected characteristic and, in the case of the Sex Discrimination Act 1976, prohibited sexual harassment which was harassment of a sexual nature and which did not depend on the sex of the victim.
Establishing liability
Recently, in general terms, the law of tort has relaxed considerably the circumstances in which an employer can be liable for the torts of its employees. Gone are the days when an employer would be found not liable for their employee’s acts if those acts were deemed to be “frolics of their
