Man fired for groping female colleagues, lifting skirts

A company in the petrochemical industry has fired a man for groping female colleagues and lifting up their skirts, among other things. The man fought his dismissal, arguing that his behavior was not against the workplace culture. According to him, there was a loose corporate culture in which coarse and harsh humor was the order of the day. The Zeeland-West_Brabant court confirmed that the man’s dismissal was justified in a ruling made early this month and published this week.

According to the ruling, the man was guilty of transgressive behavior on the night of September 16 to 17, 2023. The verdict did not say what he did or what kind of occasion was involved. But after that night, the company had an investigation done. The report includes statements from nine colleagues - seven women and two men.

One woman described how the man groped her from behind. She “felt fingers touching her pubic area” and saw the man when she turned around. She is certain it was him because there was no one else nearby, and he said something like “sorry” when she looked at him. A male colleague testified under oath that he saw the man “touching her from behind.”

A second woman said the man pulled up her dress; another colleague said he pulled on her bra. A fourth woman stated that the man touched her buttocks against her will when they hugged each other. And a fifth woman said that he rubbed her nose and lifted her dress.

According to the court, the only one claiming things didn’t happen like that is the man himself. His defense was that there was a “loose corporate culture” at work and “course, harsh, black humor about men and women” was the order of the day.

According to the court, even if his claims about the office culture are true, they are still no justification for his behavior. The court said the man was guilty of “seriously reprehensible conduct,” and his behavior affected the physical integrity and dignity of colleagues. He also created an unsafe atmosphere on the work floor.

The man’s employment contract is terminated, and he is not entitled to any severance pay, the court ruled. The only accommodation the court made for the man was to lift the non-competition clause, which allows him to work for competitors in the sector.