Sexual harassment cases in the workplace

Statistics show that three of every five women in the Philippines have been sexually harassed. In our classes in the six universities where I teach Law, one of the hottest topics is sexual harassment and the violations of the safe spaces law. In the private sector and government, most victims are women, especially the lowly rank-and-file, casuals, and job order workers. Most of the offenders are executives, heads of offices, directors, even judges. In the private sector, some managers, supervisors, and others with moral ascendancy.

The Supreme Court has always protected women by upholding. However, in a few cases, it has made distinctions between what could be deemed harassment in the true sense and what could be genuine love and affections between consenting adults. For instance, when a 30-year-old female teacher in Bacolod fell in love with her 16-year-old male student in high school, the school administration faulted her for using her moral ascendancy and taking advantage of the innocent boy. The school administration terminated the services of the teacher, but she fought back and brought her case to the Supreme Court. And after many years, she won her case. Love triumphed over suspicions of malice.

Under the old civil code prior to the Family Code, a marriage of a 16-year-old boy to any woman above 14 years old was deemed valid when parental consent was given. The Supreme Court said that courts shouldn’t interfere with pure love "for the heart has reasons of its own which reason itself does not know." In another case where a female employee of a Catholic school for the girls got pregnant without marriage, she was dismissed by the religious sisters who ran the school. Under the Faculty Manual of that college, in relation to the Manual of Regulations for Private Schools, pregnancy outside marriage is considered an immoral act and disgraceful conduct. The Labor arbiter, the NLRC and the Court of Appeals considered the dismissal valid. The Supreme Court, however, ruled it was illegal. When the man who impregnated the employee was unmarried, there is no immorality.

But in Hagonoy, Bulacan, there were two private high school teachers were married to different persons. They got romantically linked and were seen by students and other employees in indecent displays of affection. They were both dismissed. They filed cases but the Supreme Court declared their dismissal legal.

In Metro Manila and Laguna there were two male employees who were dismissed for having sex inside company premises during graveyard shifts. They filed cases of illegal dismissal but the Supreme Court dismissed their case and held them liable for serious misconduct. One case involved a boyfriend and a girlfriend who had sex inside the tools and die section. The other pair of lovers both married to different persons had sex on top of the table of their managers. Both were fired. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of management's exercise of their prerogative to discipline and dismiss.

Sexual harassment by superiors has always been decided by the court against the offenders. The use of managerial powers to solicit sex had always been condemned by the court. A senior pharma sales manager in Pangasinan who sexually assaulted his pretty med rep was dismissed for cause. A municipal assessor in Nueva Viscaya was fired for his series of sexual harassments against female personnel. A manufacturing plant manager in Laguna was also dismissed for sexually assaulting the company nurse for many months. An engineer in a steel plant in Iligan was also suspended for touching sensitive parts of women’s bodies. A manager of a courier and forwarding company in Cebu was fired for sexually harassing a pretty clerk. And a hotel manager in Lahug, Cebu was likewise fired for sexually harassing a job applicant and a hotel concessionaire employee. All the victims won their case against the offenders.

The Supreme Court has always been consistent in protecting women against sexually-starved men who use their moral ascendancy in order to get sex from subordinates. What is punished by law is not only the assault against the victim but also the use of power in order to get sex. Women are among those given special protection in our society. The Labor Code and other labor and social legislations have always regarded women as deserving of the law's special concern and protection. Let the predators be amply warned. They won't only be fired, they are going to pay moral damages and may even land in jail if the victims choose to prosecute them criminally.