MERSEYSIDE employers need to prepare for fresh sexual discrimination rights following a major High Court ruling.
The ruling must be welcomed, as it means women or men subjected to sexual humiliation or harassment by members of the public in the course of their jobs will now be allowed to claim against their employers.
The High Court insisted harassment laws must protect both men and women not only from abusive bosses and colleagues, but also from customers, clients and others.
Essentially, this means that women and men would be protected from harassment in any job where they encounter the public.
Mr Justice Barton said the current law excluded harassment by an employer's clients or customers, even if the employer knew about it but took no action.
The judge ruled that a woman is protected against harassment, and an employer liable for it, if the employer knows of continuing or regular objectionable conduct and fails to act.
Urgency in acting on the decision, brought in a challenge by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), is critical for employers.
Although employers cannot eliminate the risk entirely, they must now take steps to reduce it as far as possible and ensure that workers know how to react.
Failure to do so will leave them vulnerable to claims in tribunals.
The EOC's main target was the hotel and restaurant trade, but the ruling goes much further.
Workers, mainly women but also men, would equally be protected in the NHS or transport industry or working in professional service sectors like law and accountancy. Between 2001-05, the EOC says there were 260 successful employment tribunal cases involving sexual harassment - an average of one a week.
Mark Hatfield
Mark Hatfield is employment law partner at Mace & Jones