Can an employer who responds quickly and effectively to a complaint of sexual harassment avoid liability?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Fleming v. Ricoh Canada Inc., 2003 CanLII 2435 (ON SC):
It must also be noted that an employer who responds quickly and effectively to a complaint of sexual harassment may avoid liability or not be liable to the same extent as an employer who fails to take such steps. (ref. Robichard v. R. 1987 CanLII 73 (SCC), [1987] 2 S.C.R. 84 (S.C.C.). In other words, the employer must move with some degree of alacrity. Procedural steps may be sacrificed in the face of the need for an immediate response. At the end of the day, the burden is still on the employer to establish “just cause” for dismissal. If that is established, procedural obligations appear to be eclipsed. The Existence of a Right to Termination Pay under Section 61, The Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, independent of the Existence of “Just Cause”
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