As sexual harassment at work continues to dominate the headlines, Emma Ferguson-Law, who has supported a number of claimants in such cases, explains how organisations can build a culture where victims feel comfortable to voice concerns.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), a prominent trade union for staff within the transport industry, made the news last year when their former employee, Claire Laycock, bravely stood up to speak out against sexual abuse.
In her video, she described how she had been sexually harassed and subsequently intimidated by the union’s top boss and general secretary, Manuel Cortes.
As business group CBI sends out an open letter apologising for failing to deal with allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct – including a second claim that a woman was raped – the subject of workplace cultures that enable such abuse is again in the media.
Flashbacks
The TSSA’s website sets out the union’s vision “to achieve a fair and flourishing work environment for our members” and states that “we treat people fairly, equally and respectfully; we support those under-represented or vulnerable to discrimination”.
Sexual harassment
CBI apologises for recruiting ‘toxic’ staff
However, when it comes to the union’s own workplace, its staff paint a very different picture.
When Claire Laycock came forward about Cortes’ abuse, he actively intimidated her and the union began retaliating by questioning her performance.
As a result, Claire suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as flashbacks, anxiety, fatigue, depression, irrational thoughts and excess drinking. This is the case for many of our clients following sexual abuse.
Claire was eventually offered a settlement to leave the company and was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The use of NDAs has been widely and rightly criticised for preventing women speaking out which usually encourages others to come forward.
Fortunately, Claire decided to stand up and speak out regardless, triggering seven other women to come forward with their own reports of sexual harassment and misogyny within the union’s own ranks.
Culture inquiry
In response, the TSSA instructed Baroness Helena Kennedy KC to conduct an inquiry into whether there has been sexual harassment, bullying or discrimination in the TSSA and whether the culture and leadership enable such abuse.
When reports of abuse such as this come to light, we wonder why and how it was able to continue
The Kennedy report is, in short, damning. The report concludes that there has indeed been sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination within the TSSA towards many members of staff, enabled by the culture and the leadership.
Baroness Kennedy uncovered “a series of appalling incidents…[including] inappropriate and sexual touching, sexual assault, coercive and manipulative behaviour, violent and disrespectful language, humiliation and denigration”.
Staff members who felt able to come forward described the culture at TSSA as toxic, sexist, misogynistic, racist, homophobic and called the union an “unsafe place for women to work”.
When asked for examples of abuse, staff described shocking incidents such as senior staff squeezing a woman’s breasts, commenting on women’s bodies and telling them they “would” have sexual intercourse with them, asking a woman to kiss them, repeatedly groping women and touching one woman between her upper thighs from behind.
‘Boys will be boys’
When reports of abuse such as this come to light, we wonder why and how it was able to continue. The answer here is that the union’s culture was one of fear, “banter”, disbelief of women and, to quote Baroness Kennedy a “boys will be boys” attitude.
Victims who came forward were subjected to retaliatory practices by the Union, questioned on their performance and some were bullied out of their jobs under the guise of performance management. Those who tried to raise concerns were seen by the leadership as disloyal troublemakers who were bringing the trade union movement into disrepute.
Kennedy notes that women in particular were perceived by the leadership as liars, and she discovered concerning emphasis on the idea that if no one had witnessed the abuse then it must not have happened. Victims were gaslighted and blamed for their own abuse, with one woman describing how she was told that it was her own fault that she was abused as she should not have sat next to her abuser.
There were also numerous reports of women generally being spoken about in a degrading manner in the workplace, with “banter” and jokes being made amongst colleagues about Cortes’ abuse of young female employees.
A culture such as this is difficult to counter without a complete overhaul of the workplace. Kennedy recommends new leadership within the Union to abolish the culture of fear and misogyny and I agree. Sexism and misogyny exists on a broad spectrum, with sexist “banter” on one end and assault at the other, and the example is set by those at the top.
It is a basic requirement for women to feel safe and supported when going to work and there are steps that employers must take to ensure this
It is a basic requirement for women to feel safe and supported when going to work and there are steps that employers must take to ensure this. Other institutions that may have similar cultures need to clamp down on banter and heavy drinking culture, believe women and hold leadership accountable and responsible for dealing appropriately with any kind of harassment or abuse.
Harassment protection legislation
The new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill looks to introduce a positive obligation on employers to actively prevent harassment in the workplace, both by its own employees and by third parties such as clients and customers.
The Bill is likely to be enacted and provides a fantastic opportunity for employers to take a fresh look at their policies and practices to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their staff.
With more than half of women in the workplace experiencing workplace sexual harassment and four out of five not reporting this to their employer, it is clear that serious work needs to be done to stamp out abuse and violence against women at work.
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When a woman is abused, it is imperative that she feels able to come forward, knows she will be believed and trusts that her employer will take the appropriate steps to deal with the perpetrators and prevent future harassment.
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