Duty to investigate
Question: If an employer learns that an employee was being sexually harassed by another employee away from work, but the harassed employee doesn’t say anything, does the employer still have to take action?
Answer: In short, yes. Here’s why:
An employer is responsible for keeping all of its employees safe in the workplace pursuant to local occupational health and safety legislation, and this includes maintaining a workplace that is free from harassment and discrimination. Included amongst these obligations is the employer’s duty to investigate any reported or suspected incidents of sexual harassment, and report the findings of that investigation to the parties, including any disciplinary action that will be taken. While some employers have internal investigators, many will retain a third-party investigator due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter.
Employers are responsible for making it easy for employees to come forth confidentially if they wish to report an incident of harassment. However, that does not mean that all victims of harassment will feel comfortable sharing their story, no matter how many assurances an employer makes that the matter will be taken seriously. Thus, incidents reported by co-workers or other uninvolved parties (as this situation may well be), or even anonymously, must be taken equally as seriously, and dealt with in the same fashion.
If there is a suspicion, it must be investigated. The lack of a complaint does not allow the employer to escape its responsibility.
