THE Appeal Court has reserved its ruling in a challenge against the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) after it dismissed a complaint brought by a man who said he was sexually harassed by a female co-worker.
The complaint brought by Rishi Persad Maharaj was dismissed last November by Justice Donna Prowell-Raphael after the judge found that the filing of the complaint was an abuse of process.
Prowell-Raphael had also found that Maharaj named the wrong defendant in the complaint before she disposed of the matter.
At the Appeal Court yesterday, Justices Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Nolan Bereaux and Prakash Moosai who presided over Maharajâs challenge were asked by Maharajâs attorney, Douglas Mendes SC, to overturn the commissionâs ruling.
Appeal Court to rule on sexual harassment case against woman
Wednesday 16 December 2020
THREE Appeal Court judges will decide whether the Equal Opportunity Tribunal was wrong to dismiss the sexual-harassment complaint of a man who took offence at being slapped on the buttocks and being called “bae” and “hot” by a woman at his workplace.
Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Nolan Bereaux and Prakash Moosai reserved their decision in the appeal of Rishi Persad-Maharaj challenging the EOT’s decision to throw out his complaint in 2019, on the basis that the Equal Opportunities Act (EOA) did not provide for complaints on the ground of sexual harassment.