Many of you will have followed the events concerning the Sky sports presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys.
The presenters reportedly made comments referring to certain female referees as being "f****g hopeless" and she was recruited on the basis that "someone f*****d up big time" as well as using terminology such as "love". The sexist comments were followed by the discovery on a You Tube video of Gray asking a female Sky presenter to put a microphone down his trousers" for which he has now been dismissed. The comments may have been said off air but they would still attract liability for Sky.
Workplace banter takes place in every work place and is not necessarily as obvious as the Sky sports incident but as an Employer you have an obligation to ensure your employees are protected from such banter otherwise you could end up on the receiving end of discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment claims, the compensation for which is uncapped. As an Employer you can be liable for any claim even if you did not know the harassment was going on. Furthermore, it is not only the person to whom the comments are directed that can bring the claim but it is open to those offended by it. An Employers best defence is showing that they have taken all reasonable steps to stop harassment in the workplace.
