Not All Sexual Comments or Advances from a Supervisor Constitute Sexual Harassment
An important ruling regarding workplace authority figures and the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace has established that one cannot automatically assume sexual comments or advances by an employee with managerial authority constitute sexual harassment. In this ruling, it appears, the National Labor Court has tempered to some extent widespread notions about sexual harassment by an authority figure.
The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law establishes that sexual advances or comments constitute sexual harassment if they are between a superior and his or her subordinate, regardless of whether the employee expressed a lack of consent to such.
This latest ruling originated from a sexual harassment suit filed with the District Labor Court by a female bus driver who maintained an intimate relationship with a platform supervisor. The driver claimed the platform supervisor, as someone superior to her, took advantage of his managerial power and forced her into an intimate relationship. The platform supervisor, for his part, claimed the two had entered into a consensual relationship. The District Labor Court sided with the driver and held there were authority relations between the two, and as such the platform supervisor’s actions constituted sexual harassment. The court awarded the driver damages of about 1 million shekels.
On appeal from the platform worker, the National Labor Court arrived at a different conclusion.
The National Labor Court found no authority relations existed between the platform supervisor and the driver. According to the court, when a supervisor does not control an employee-complainant and does not possess managerial authority over him or her (i.e., does not supervise the employee’s work, is not responsible for the employee’s terms and conditions of employment, and does not have the authority to change these), and when the supervisor does not fill a senior position in the company, authority relations do not exist and an a priori determination of sexual harassment cannot be made.
Additionally, the National Labor Court found that, in this case, the driver and the platform supervisor maintained an authentic consensual relationship, both inside and outside the workplace. Such details also hold importance, of course, when analyzing if behavior in a specific set of circumstances constitutes sexual harassment.
The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law can be complex, both on the legal and workplace-management levels. Considering the many ongoing changes in the subject, we recommend consulting an attorney for every question about sexual harassment in the workplace, including those concerning possible steps toward prevention.