Harassment is a serious issue and can take many forms in the workplace but what is the position where an employee is viewed as being overly sensitive?
The Collins English Dictionary defines the ‘Snowflake Generation’ as “the generation of people who became adults in the 2010’s viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations”.
I am sure you have all heard stories suggesting that so-called “Snowflakes” are all too easily offended and upset. So, what’s the position for employers? Can they run a “Snowflake” defence and claim no liability where employees are “more prone to taking offence”?
For example, if you, as an employer, are faced with a complaint from an employee that a colleague’s joke has severely offended them, are you safe to take no further action if you think that they are over-reacting?
The answer is, generally, no. The Equality Act 2010 defines unlawful harassment as: A person (A) harasses another (B) if A engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic (e.g. sex, race, age, disability etc.) which has the purpose or effect of either:
(a) Violating B’s dignity; or
(b) Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B.
The key word in the above definition is “effect”. There is no requirement for the unwanted conduct to be intentional. As an employer you must appreciate that conduct that may seem harmless to one person could amount to harassment to another.
At Collingwood Legal we are specialists in managing difficult employment and equality issues. We appreciate that these issues can be sensitive and difficult to manage and if you require any advice or assistance on harassment related issues, please contact me on 0191 282 2889 or at jordan.hassan@collingwoodlegal.com.
