The Labour Court rejected a complainant’s appeal against A Government Department, finding that a colleague’s comment was not sexual harassment or discrimination and that the Department had not victimised him. The determination was dated 24 August 2005.
The complainant alleged that a senior colleague made a sexually offensive comment and that he was later excluded from a promotion competition because he complained. The Department denied both claims, saying it investigated the allegation and that the promotion assessments were unrelated to it.
The Court accepted that the comment could have caused offence and ought not to have been used, but found it was not discriminatory. It found no grounds for bias in the promotion assessment and said a formal discrimination complaint had not been made when that assessment took place. Both claims failed, and the Equality Officer’s decision was affirmed.