Special Situations: Harassment Outside the Workplace and Personal Relationships

Extraterritoriality of Harassment

As mentioned in the introduction, harassment does not file at the exit. Conduct that occurs at company-sponsored events, year-end parties, conferences or business trips is fully punishable.

If a manager takes advantage of a team dinner to ridicule a subordinate under the influence of alcohol, it is harassment at work.

The hierarchy and the duty to respect remain in force in any space where employees interact as such.

Even harassment by telephone or in person at the employee's home during vacations or weekends is an invasion of privacy that aggravates the conduct.

Sentimental Relationships and Conflicts of Interest

Romantic relationships at work are fertile ground for conflict.

When a consensual relationship between a boss and a subordinate ends badly, it can quickly escalate into harassment (revenge for the breakup) or false allegations of sexual harassment.

This is why many corporations implement relationship disclosure policies.

What starts out as an idyll can turn into a "quid pro quo" or hostile environment.

In addition, favoritism toward a romantic partner by a boss constitutes a form of indirect discrimination and harassment toward the rest of the team, who see their opportunities limited not by merit, but by affective nepotism.

The Boundary between Friendship and Profession

In small teams, the line between colleagues and friends blurs. However, overconfidence does not authorize disrespect.

Practical jokes that in a bar context would be acceptable between friends, in the work environment may constitute harassment if the victim feels uncomfortable or if they are made in front of third parties.

The argument "we were just playing" or "he knows it's a joke" is not valid if the conduct degrades the person's professional image.

Professionalism requires maintaining certain protocols of conduct even if there is a previous friendship, to avoid