In Campbell Scientific Africa (Pty) Ltd v Simmers, the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) recently provided guidance on the distinction between ‘sexual attention’ and ‘sexual harassment’. On the last night of a business trip, Mr Simmers made advances to the complainant (a female colleague 25 years his junior) and asked her if she “want[s] a lover tonight” and to come to his room if she changed her mind. It was a once-off incident and Mr Simmers did not pursue the complainant further. When Mr Simmers’ employer found out, a disciplinary process was instituted and he was dismissed. The LAC made it clear that there is a fine line between sexual attention and sexual harassment: that it is not necessary for the perpetrator to be a co-worker for sexual harassment to take place; that sexual harassment does not have to take place at the workplace or even in South Africa; there does not have to be a continuing employment relationship or proximity at the workplace between the perpetrator and the victim for the claim to be actionable; and even a single incident that is not persisted, could constitute sexual harassment.
South Africa