PremiumThe woman was told to stand up and turn around by a male manager during a staff meeting last year. The manager started smacking her on the bottom with a ruler when she stood up.
An Irish woman has settled a sexual harassment case for 90,000 pounds, that is, about ₹90 lakhs. In Ireland, the woman was allegedly slapped on the bottom with a ruler by her manager during an official meeting in 2021.
As per BBC reports, the woman was told to stand up and turn around by a male manager during a staff meeting last year. The manager started smacking her on the bottom with a ruler when she stood up.
“I am sorry. I had to," the manager said after he slapped the woman on the bottom.
The Irish woman also claimed that she asked another male manager present in the meeting whether ‘the action' was allowed. However, the two managers took it as a joke and told other staff members about the incident.
She wished to remain anonymous, but still made several attempts to raise her voice against the manager over the incident. She approached higher authorities of her organization in Northern Ireland, However, they did not acknowledge it for 10 days. The authorities again took another five weeks to uphold the issue.
According to BBC, she also said her former employer alleged that she had dressed and behaved ‘proactively’ as the woman raised a grievance with the higher authorities of the company.
Initially, she was embarrassed to raise the incident, but later told her employers about it and warned them that she would not return to office until the issue was addressed. Later, she said that the manager who was accused of slapping her, resigned.
The chief commissioner of the Equality Commission, Geraldine McGahey called the incident ‘shocking and distressing’ and also stated that the investigation made the Irish woman feel like a perpetrator, not a victim.
McGahey added that the organization has a toxic and laddish work culture where people don't respect women employees. She said that the woman suffered severe embarrassment and humiliation in her office, BBC reported.
The Irish woman is now working with the Equality Commission in order to ensure that it has proper policies on sexual harassment.