Re-location after viewing pornography?

thebrexitunicorn

And in this instance, which specific employment law would you suggest the OP takes them up on? 

If colleagues were watching pornography in the workplace,  sexual harassment.  Assuming the situation is as presented,  the OP may want to consider appealing the outcome of the grievance on this.  

cleverusername

Thanks for the input so far.  As people have correctly suggested I am not without fault here.  In my disaplinary I was given a written warning for an admission of ignoring this person on one occasion.  I overturned the outcome on a legal technicality.  In terms of the circumstances surrounding the !!!!!!, I was in work building during working hours sat at a table on a computer.  Colleagues A & B appear from around the corner watching a mobile phone and I hear the sound at first but ignore them.  They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere.  Colleague C also comments about it being 'too much' and that 'it went too far.  Because I was put on a disaplinary I have all the witness statements taken during the investigation and the witness statements of colleague C  backs up my account of the incident.  Colleagues A + B deny/can't remember the incident taking place.  I am considering an appeal.

Comms69

IAMIAM said:

Interesting views here, my sister is an employment judge and in situations like this, where you feel the employer is in the wrong, the only way to instigate anything or something is to take it out of the employers hands. All too often you hear the replies you are getting already just to your simple question, but ultimately once employment law takes over, the onus is on the employer to justify why they have made their decisions and why they have chosen not to follow their own policy. They usually don't have a leg to stand on and then you'll find you were right to pursue something. Far too often HR ends up being pulled apart because they decide having CIPD Level 7 means they suddenly think they are Judge Rinder (not my words).

Perhaps your sister can give you some legal advice here then and you can share it with everyone - as we've all missed the obvious

Undervalued

cleverusername said:

Thanks for the input so far.  As people have correctly suggested I am not without fault here.  In my disaplinary I was given a written warning for an admission of ignoring this person on one occasion.  I overturned the outcome on a legal technicality.  In terms of the circumstances surrounding the !!!!!!, I was in work building during working hours sat at a table on a computer.  Colleagues A & B appear from around the corner watching a mobile phone and I hear the sound at first but ignore them.  They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere.  Colleague C also comments about it being 'too much' and that 'it went too far.  Because I was put on a disaplinary I have all the witness statements taken during the investigation and the witness statements of colleague C  backs up my account of the incident.  Colleagues A + B deny/can't remember the incident taking place.  I am considering an appeal.

Rightly or wrongly, in the real world, overturning the outcome of a disciplinary "on a legal technicality" is not going to win you many friends in the company. Given that you appear to admit you were actually at fault, the smart thing to have done would have been to admit the "offence", take the warning and keep your head down.

Now you are "considering an appeal" about something that is none of your business. You have complained about a colleagues behaviour, maybe quite justifiably, but unfortunately he just so happens to be the person that complained about you!

The company has upheld part of your complaint but not all of it. To repeat, you have no further say in the matter and it is entirely up to the company how seriously or otherwise to treat his "offence".

If you really have suffered "sexual harassment" then your claim is against the company, not an individual employee.

Can you not see how this looks? He made a complaint against you that was upheld (initially). You are now trying to dictate that the company move him to another location having made a complaint, two thirds of which was rejected.

This isn't going to end well.

Petriix

You need some genuine legal advice from an employment lawyer. Depending on the facts (documented evidence, not opinion and conjecture) you may have a genuine case for demanding action, damages, or even claiming constructive dismissal if your position has become untenable. We are not party to enough information to advise you.

jonnygee2

They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere. 

From this description, it does actually look like it fits the definitions of sexual harassment. It clearly creates an intimidating and offensive environment, especially if it continues to be shown after you have asked for it not to be. Did the company say why they didn't find it to be sexual harassment?

cleverusername

jonnygee2 said:

They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere. 

From this description, it does actually look like it fits the definitions of sexual harassment. It clearly creates an intimidating and offensive environment, especially if it continues to be shown after you have asked for it not to be. Did the company say why they didn't find it to be sexual harassment?

Thanks again for your input. Because there was no intention to offend and it was a misjudgement on the part of A and B who did not intent for me to see the footage.

cleverusername

jonnygee2 said:

They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere. 

From this description, it does actually look like it fits the definitions of sexual harassment. It clearly creates an intimidating and offensive environment, especially if it continues to be shown after you have asked for it not to be. Did the company say why they didn't find it to be sexual harassment?

Thanks. I will ask my union about an employment lawyer.

cleverusername

Undervalued said:

cleverusername said:

Thanks for the input so far.  As people have correctly suggested I am not without fault here.  In my disaplinary I was given a written warning for an admission of ignoring this person on one occasion.  I overturned the outcome on a legal technicality.  In terms of the circumstances surrounding the !!!!!!, I was in work building during working hours sat at a table on a computer.  Colleagues A & B appear from around the corner watching a mobile phone and I hear the sound at first but ignore them.  They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere.  Colleague C also comments about it being 'too much' and that 'it went too far.  Because I was put on a disaplinary I have all the witness statements taken during the investigation and the witness statements of colleague C  backs up my account of the incident.  Colleagues A + B deny/can't remember the incident taking place.  I am considering an appeal.

Rightly or wrongly, in the real world, overturning the outcome of a disciplinary "on a legal technicality" is not going to win you many friends in the company. Given that you appear to admit you were actually at fault, the smart thing to have done would have been to admit the "offence", take the warning and keep your head down.

Now you are "considering an appeal" about something that is none of your business. You have complained about a colleagues behaviour, maybe quite justifiably, but unfortunately he just so happens to be the person that complained about you!

The company has upheld part of your complaint but not all of it. To repeat, you have no further say in the matter and it is entirely up to the company how seriously or otherwise to treat his "offence".

If you really have suffered "sexual harassment" then your claim is against the company, not an individual employee.

Can you not see how this looks? He made a complaint against you that was upheld (initially). You are now trying to dictate that the company move him to another location having made a complaint, two thirds of which was rejected.

This isn't going to end well.

Thanks. I understand your point about tit for tat.  But I am not going to take a written warning on the chin and potentially lose my job in the future when the buisness can't even manage to implement a warning without botching their own procedures.  I have appologised for my instance of misconduct and shown contrition.  I thought a written warning for admitting ignoring someone on one isolated occasion was very harsh and wouldn't have made it to disaplinary in most companies.  

Masomnia

cleverusername said:

jonnygee2 said:

They stand behind me and continue to watch before approaching the desk where I am sat and start showing my colleague (C) who is sat next to me.  At this point the phone is placed in my line of sight as they start showing colleague C and I say 'that is sick and I don't want to see it', they continue to show Colleague C for another minute before going elsewhere. 

From this description, it does actually look like it fits the definitions of sexual harassment. It clearly creates an intimidating and offensive environment, especially if it continues to be shown after you have asked for it not to be. Did the company say why they didn't find it to be sexual harassment?

Thanks again for your input. Because there was no intention to offend and it was a misjudgement on the part of A and B who did not intent for me to see the footage.

Schoolboy error in discrimination cases. It's not a straightforward one and I think you're right to get proper advice.