Harassment claim update

It is important to note that harassment claims are not only being pursued through routes of constructive dismissal. A recent case has found an employer negligent for failing to protect an employee from harassment. This follows last year's decision that failure to protect an employee from harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act is actionable in the civil courts.

This has significant implications for all organisations which ask their employees to work in face-to-face situations with the public. There would seem to be possibilities of action against employers who failed to prevent the persecution of a teacher by students or by an aggressive or obsessive parent.

This can only be a good thing if staff are no longer expected to suffer in silence, but it will put an additional pressure on school and college leaders to detect and prevent this kind of behaviour.