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Case Studies 1.

Q1. You are working as the Head of the Human Resources Department in a consultancy firm ABC Corp. A female employee of the firm comes to you complaining about sexual harassment in the company premises at the hands of the CEO of one of your clients, XYZ Corp., when the latter visited your firm for a client interaction. XYZ Corp. happens to be a major source of revenue for your company. Also, the CEO of XYZ Corp. is considered a very reputable professional and is highly regarded by the senior management of your firm. In the past, you have witnessed members of your senior management praise the professional and no-nonsense attitude of the CEO of XYZ Corp. However, the female employee, who has approached you, is also sure that the CEO knowingly misbehaved with her. In light of the situation:

(a) Discuss the issues involved in this case.

(b) What are the options available to you and what course of action would you take? Give logical arguments to support your answer.

Approach:

• Briefly write about the facts of the case.
• Write about various issues involved with special emphasis on ethical issues.
• List the options available to you.
• Mention the course of action that you would take along with reasoning for the same.
• Conclude accordingly.

Answer:

This case pertains to sexual harassment at workplace. A female employee has alleged sexual harassment on company premises by a person who is not an employee of the company but was on a visit to the company’s premise for an official interaction.

(a) Various issues involved in the case are following

• Ensuring safe and secure workplace for all: The Company has a responsibility to ensure a workplace where all employees irrespective of their gender can work in a safe environment and are assured of their dignity and self-respect.
• Implementation of law regarding sexual harassment: Women employees face heightened risk of harassment, which can take several forms such as catcalling, unwanted attention, touch, remarks or stare etc. A framework and detailed rules have been provided under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) at Workplace Act,2013 which need to be strictly adhered to.
• Protecting interest of the company: Since the accused happens to be the CEO of one of the largest clients of the Company, the incident raises the issue of protection of interests of other employees as well as the Company itself.
• Giving a fair chance to the accused to explain his conduct: This holds an important place in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Any misunderstanding by the female employee may defeat the purpose of the law to protect the women employees.

(b) Options available to me as the head of Human Resource Department are the following:

• Ask her to lodge a formal complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for sexual harassment: I will ask the employee to approach the Internal Complaints Committee constituted under the POSH Act to deal with sexual harassment at the workplace.
• Informally talk to the CEO of XYZ corp.: I will talk to the CEO of XYZ Corp. at a personal level to better understand the chain of events that happened during client interaction.
• Talk to other employees of the company: I will talk to other employees of my company to better understand about the mannerism and conduct of the CEO of XYZ Corp. as well as the woman employee who has accused the CEO of sexual harassment.
• Give the benefit of the doubt to the client: Tell the woman employee that the particular client is very important for the company and souring of relationship with him may lead to loss of revenue for the company which will not be in the interest of the company. I can further transfer that woman employee to some other department so that she does not have to interact with that CEO again.

As the head of Human Resource Department, I will take following course of action in this situation.

• Recording of the complaint is crucial for a fair enquiry. For this purpose, I will listen to the female employee in detail about the incident, record them in official records, and ask her to file a written complaint with all the details to the Internal Complaints Committee constituted in the company under the POSH Act, 2013.
• I will explain to her the detailed rules regarding the POSH Act and existing protection mechanisms for preventing such crimes. As a precautionary measure I would transfer her to another department and clearly explain to her that it is not being done to penalize her but is needed to minimize the conflict and ensure a fair and smooth enquiry process.
• I will also ensure that she is shielded from any pressure from other senior members of the management of my company i.e. ABC Corp. or client’s company XYZ Corp. and ask her to report any such efforts promptly to me or the ICC.
• Then, I will talk to other employees of my company to get feedback about the CEO of XYZ Corp. to know if any other employee also faced a similar situation in the past, but failed to report the same. This way, I will be better equipped to deal with the situation at hand.
• I will then talk to that CEO on a personal level to know about his side of the story.
• Based on my conversation with that woman employee, other employees of my company and that CEO of XYZ Corp., I will give my inputs to the Internal Complaints Committee competent to look into incidents of the sexual harassment and assist it in reaching a final conclusion.
• Based on the final conclusion of the ICC, further legal action will be taken as required. That the XYZ Corp. happens to be one of the biggest sources of revenue requires us to proceed with caution but this fact is irrelevant for the case at hand. Sexual misconduct at workplaces is not only an illegal act but also against the dignity of women and the company as a whole. Therefore, there is a need to conduct a detailed inquiry following all due diligence.
• Further, if the woman employee is not happy with the conclusion arrived at by the Internal Complaints Committee, then again I will explain to her about the recourse that she could take and help her in getting professional legal help in the matter including filing an official complaint with the police.