The Workplace Relations Commission ordered a golf club to pay a worker €25,000 after finding that its general manager sexually harassed her. The decision was dated 21 July 2022.
The worker, an administrator, said the general manager repeatedly made unwanted sexual comments and intruded into her private life. The club said it learned of the allegations in November 2019 and appointed an external investigator. That investigation upheld three of 23 complaints as inappropriate behaviour, but not as harassment or sexual harassment.
The WRC found the worker’s witnesses compelling and accepted that she had asked the general manager to stop and raised concerns with colleagues and the bar manager. Staff were unfamiliar with the harassment policy and had received no explanation or training. The WRC criticised the investigation for interviewing too few witnesses and giving too little weight to the worker’s account. It found the club had not shown it took reasonably practicable steps to prevent or address the harassment.
A separate victimisation complaint about proposed settlement options was not well founded because they were not imposed without the worker’s consent.