Harassment is a serious workplace offence. If it infringes one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, then it can give rise to an employment tribunal claim and substantial financial awards.
Workplace harassment can also sometimes be a criminal offence, because the conduct taking place at work satisfies not only the employment law definition of harassment, but also the criminal standard.
Against this backdrop, the Telegraph has reported that a Metropolitan Police call centre manager was found guilty of harassment in the criminal courts after targeting a colleague with unwanted gifts and messages.
This is a rare case where workplace harassment strayed into criminal conduct. The manager’s behaviour included gifting a signed photo of the rock band Queen and expensive perfume, claiming to be Ronan Keating’s cousin and posing as Ronan himself in messages sent to his victim. His advances were not welcomed, and were ‘unwanted’, yet he persisted. He was found guilty and punished with an 18-month community order and a two-year restraining order. This is a reminder that harassment can take many forms. Some of his harassing acts were eyebrow raising to say the least, including gifting a signed photo of the rock band Queen and expensive perfume, claiming to be Ronan Keating’s cousin and posing as Ronan himself in messages sent to his victim.
Further reading
Protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010
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