A lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technoloy has been awarded ten thousand euro compensation after being sexually harassed by students.
Louise Walsh took a case to the Labour Court which found Waterford Institute of Technology did not do enough to prevent the harassment by male students
According to the Irish Times, Ms Walsh told the Court how she had been sexually harassed by a large group of male students in her agricultural science class on various dates between October 10th 2014 and March 19th 2015.
In one incident she was told students “would do her” .
She was also subjected to inappropriate sexual references and coarse sexual language.
Despite informing those in authority, the lecturer claimed the college did not take adequate steps to ensure the harassment and bullying did not take place.
WIT contested the claim and told the Labour Court it took all practicable steps to avoid the occurrence of sexual harassment or harassment based on gender in her case..
However, the court found in Ms Walsh's favour and ordered the college to pay the compensation, and to review its policies and procedures around harassment.
In a statement on Thursday, WIT said it “is committed to providing a safe working environment to all employees and takes this matter very seriously”. It said it was now taking time to reflect on the Labour Court’s decision.
“At this juncture we are taking the time to reflect on the decision of the Labour Court and continue to work with staff and their representatives in the monitoring and review of our policies and procedures to ensure that such an environment is free of all forms of bullying, harassment and discrimination.”
