Italian woman awarded 100,000 Euro in landmark workplace sexual harassment case
The woman suffered panic attacks for years due to her boss’s sexually explicit comments
In a decision that the Italian press is hailing as the first of its kind, a woman who for years was sexually harassed by her boss has been awarded more than 100,000 Euro in damages.
Starting in 2008, the owner of the small textile company where the woman worked in Lombardy made graphic sexual comments both privately and in front of her colleagues. The woman was finally forced to press charges in civil court in Como in 2013.
Now, the judge has ruled in her favor, fining the man 105,000 Euro and ordering him to pay court costs, Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper reported today.
The decision appeared to be the first time damages were awarded for strictly verbal work-place sexual harassment. Under Italian law, work-place harassment also includes unwanted touching to non-erogenous zones.
The decision was a long time coming — not just for the woman in question but also for victims of sexual harassment nationwide.
In 2012, the Italian Court of Cassation clarified that sexual harassment is illegal regardless of whether or not the offender was seeking sexual gratification when (s)he made the comments in question. Until now, though, most judges have dismissed such behavior as jokes that “didn’t really damage” the victims.
In one 2016 case, a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against the director of the Palermo tax authority because the man’s lewd comments were simply “immature and inopportune,” according to the Court. The man was 65 at the time.
The woman in the Como case testified that for years she suffered panic attacks as a result of her boss’s comments. Once, the man told her he would be afraid to have sex with her because, “I bet men destroy you.” Another time he announced to a group of her colleagues, “Come on, let’s all take her to the storage closet.”
The woman further testified that the harassment created a “workplace hell.”
“But I had to pay the mortgage,” she told the judge. “It was during the Financial Crisis, and it wasn’t easy finding another job.”
News of the decision was cheered in a country that has lagged behind the rest of Western Europe in the #metoo era. While countries such as England and France are having major cultural and political reckonings, including emphasis on equal pay and workplace rights, women in Italy have struggled to create similar momentum.
At a panel in Perugia on Thursday on the movement against sexual harassment in Italy, Italian journalist Tiziana Ferrario welcomed the decision and criticized companies that don’t implement protections for women who make sexual harassment complaints.
In Italy, the conversation too often focuses on criticizing women for not coming forward, when in fact the more important issue is why they are afraid to do so, said Ferrario, who published a book last fall called Pride and Prejudice: Women’s Awakening in the Age of Trump.
“It’s important to understand why there aren’t the conditions for them to complain,” she added. “I think we need a big cultural change to show that men and women can work together to fight this.”
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