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Woman awarded $24,000 after being sexually harassed and stalked by a colleague

Image: Getty A female security guard in New Zealand has been awarded $NZ24,000 ($22,600) in compensation after she claimed a colleague sexually harassed her. The woman said the man physically restrained her, stalked her on social media and told her he would follow her home and watch her sleep, according to The NZ Herald. The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) upheld the woman’s personal grievance claim of unjustifiable action, agreeing her employer did not deal with her sexual harassment complaint fully. The ERA suppressed the names of the woman, the male security guard and the workplace to protect the woman. The woman started working for the security company on January 11, 2019, and for the first five weeks of her employment she worked at the same bar in central Christchurch. The sexual harassment then went on to start in February 2019, the woman said. It was verbal, consisting of unwanted and unacceptable sexual comments. She tried ignoring the harassment and avoiding the colleague but the harassment only got worse. It escalated to the point where she was so anxious around the man she started having panic attacks and was increasingly concerned about what he might do. The ERA found the man was “brazen in his behaviour and unrepentant, he did not stop the behaviour when asked”. It was found he stalked the woman on social media and told her he was doing this. He said he would follow her home and watch her sleep, and there had been one incident at work where the man had physically restrained her against her will. After hiding in her car one night to avoid the man, the woman approached another colleague, who encouraged her to go to their team leader. The team leader immediately changed the woman’s shifts so she was no longer working with the man. The business owner was also informed. The owner sent a message to the woman asking to meet so he could find out what was going on. She messaged back saying she was scared to say anything at first because she didn’t know how it would “be handled”. She said she had been sexually harassed and it had “gotten to the point where I’m scared and uncomfortable to be around him”. “He just turned up to [the bar] and I got the worse [sic] anxiety and had to go in my car until he had left.” The owner gave assurance the woman would be kept safe at work. The pair met in early April 2019 and the owner said he was meeting the company lawyer to discuss what steps to take. “I really don’t understand what’s going through his head, it’s like he’s trying to either intimidate me or something … I really don’t know what to do anymore.” In reply, the owner said he had told the colleague to leave the woman alone and that his behaviour could be considered serious misconduct. From April until July there were various meetings and messages and the business owner told the woman he would investigate and report back to her. He said he would speak to the lawyer about the next steps to take. She reiterated she felt intimidated and said, “I don’t think he should be working in this industry in the type of workplace he is because of the harassment. It’s not something that should be taken lightly because of the extent of it and how confident he was doing it.” The owner asked for a timeline of evidence so he could progress it to the next level and the woman provided a document outlining the harassment. A month later the woman received a message from another manager at the company that said the matter was still under investigation and “you need to let us deal with it”. The manager continued, “Personal issues don’t come to work and affect a professional environment because then it gets ugly. Just don’t let whatever kind of issue this is interfering with our business operations please, we’ve worked too hard to build a professional reputation I get on edge when it’s being damaged.” On May 10th, police called the woman to say her complaint was a work issue and needed to be dealt with at work.The call sparked a panic attack and the woman called her father. Her father called the owner of the business and complained about the lack of action and support. This prompted the owner to apologise to the woman. He also said the harassment wasn‘t happening at work so it was “a police issue now”. He offered to go to the police station with the woman but then never confirmed a time.The woman’s father then contacted the owner again and said nothing had been done. The father had heard the colleague accused of sexual harassment had been telling others at work everything was made up. The father asked, “What are your steps to getting this solved or have you lied to me and swept it under the carpet?” The ERA found that despite meetings and messages, the company had not completed the investigation into sexual harassment. This had come after the woman had trusted that the owner would resolve the complaint. She hadn’t received a report and no outcome had been reported to her. The ERA found the woman’s claim for personal grievance was not that the company had failed to protect her but that it failed to deal with the sexual harassment complaint appropriately. It found the woman was disadvantaged at work because she felt unsafe. The woman was awarded $NZ24,000 compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings.

Legal

Woman bombarded with sexual messages from strangers while flying

A Cambridge University graduate has been sent sexually charged messages from strangers on a Virgin Atlantic flight. Jessica Van Meir was targeted by other passengers using the plane’s chat system which allows other passengers to communicate on board. The messages said “you tidy babe” and another message from an unknown passenger called “dirty mike” said “welcome to hell”. Van Meir shared images of the messages on Twitter. “I was on a Virgin Atlantic flight, and I unexpectedly received these sexually harassing messages on my screen,” she wrote. “I was in 55C. The flight attendants were helpful and dealt with it swiftly. Have any other women had this happen to them?” She added: “Virgin Atlantic, you should probably take measures to prevent this from happening by flagging specific language and putting in place a reporting function on the chat to report abusive users.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Yesterday I was on a <a href="https://twitter.com/VirginAtlantic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VirginAtlantic</a> flight, and I unexpectedly received these sexually harassing messages on my screen (I was in 55C). The flight attendants were helpful & dealt with it swiftly. Have any other women had this happen to them?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/metoo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#metoo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cyberharassment?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cyberharassment</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SCFGallagher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SCFGallagher</a> <a href="https://t.co/7tbVkRhpQp">pic.twitter.com/7tbVkRhpQp</a> — Jessica Van Meir (@jessicavanmeir) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessicavanmeir/status/1180963813199421441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">6 October 2019</a></blockquote> After this incident, Virgin has now said it will review the system to avoid passengers from sending unsolicited messages. A spokesperson said: “We were extremely concerned to hear of the incident reported on-board one of our flights and are investigating as a matter of urgency. “We want all of our customers to have the best possible experience when they fly with us and have zero tolerance for any disruptive or inappropriate behaviour. “We’re grateful to our cabin crew who supported our customer following this incident and would like to apologise for the distress caused. “We are now reviewing our entertainment systems to ensure this does not happen again.”

International Travel

Barbara Streisand opens up: "I wasn't pretty enough to be harassed"

Barbara Streisand has revealed she’s never suffered sexual harassment in Hollywood, but has felt abused by the media. In a wide-ranging interview with director, product and long-time admirer Ryan Murphy, Streisand spoke candidly about her career, the #MeToo movement and her aversion to interviews. When asked if she had ever been sexually harassed or mistreated, Streisand replied: “Never”. “I wasn’t like those pretty girls with those nice little noses. Maybe that’s why,” she added. Of the #MeToo movement sweeping the entertainment industry, she said, “We’re in a strange time now in terms of men and women and the pendulum swinging this way and that way, and it’s going to have to come to the centre.” She also opened up about her reluctance to speak to the media, which is based on years of what she labelled “inaccurate reporting”. One particularly persistent story that Streisand labelled as false is that she has an “awards room” at home dedicated to her Oscars, Emmys and other trophies. She also criticised the late American TV journalist Mike Wallace, recalling how when she was a young star (and before Wallace joined 60 Minutes) he asked her a series of hurtful questions during a TV interview and she had complained to him afterwards. However, on a subsequent show Wallace told viewers who’d objected to his line questioning of Streisand that she “loved” the interview. “I thought, I don’t know what date rape is, it’s terrible … but it was such a violation,” she said. “Why lie?” The interview, which was part of a tribute to Streisand for the 35th annual PaleyFest LA television festival at the Dolby Theatre, ended with Murphy’s own personal tribute to the Funny Girl star. “People talk about Barbra as the greatest female star. I say, no, that’s not enough,” Murphy said, adding, “She was a touchstone, a beacon I followed my entire life.”

Music

Colin Firth’s wife admits to affair with her alleged stalker

Colin Firth’s wife Livia Giuggioli has admitted she had an affair with the man she is now accusing of stalking her. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/colin-firth-s-wife-livia-giuggioli-admits-affair-with-stalker-journalist-marco-brancaccia-0zh5cc566" target="_blank">Livia Giuggioli has accused an Italian journalist of harassing her</a> with a campaign of “frightening” messages, The Times reports. The 48-year-old film producer, who married Firth, 57, in 1997, claims journalist Marco Brancaccia, 55, was stalking her. He denied the accusation telling the publication that she was lying to cover up their relationship which occurred between 2015 and 2016. In a statement, the couple confirmed Giuggioli’s past relationship with Brancaccia, explaining, “A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate. During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr. Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.” The statement continued, “Subsequently, Mr. Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public.” “The reporting this week on this case is understood to be the consequence of a leaked court document. This is greatly to be regretted,” the statement concluded. Brancaccia has denied the harassment claims, saying they were “romantically involved.” “She wanted to leave Colin for me,” he said, adding that the marriage had “been over for years.” “My ‘stalking’ consisted of two messages via WhatsApp after she ended our relationship in June 2016, and an email. I wrote an email to Colin about my relationship with Livia, which I now regret sending, and she filed a complaint against me for stalking out of fear that I could go public with what she had revealed to me about her marriage and work,” he said. Brancaccia said, “In a year she sent me hundreds of messages of love, photos and videos, even a diary.”

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Woman awarded $24,000 after being sexually harassed and stalked by a colleague

Woman bombarded with sexual messages from strangers while flying

Barbara Streisand opens up: "I wasn't pretty enough to be harassed"

Colin Firth’s wife admits to affair with her alleged stalker