/ / / / / What is harassment in relation to services?

What is harassment in relation to services?

If you experience unwanted, hostile behaviour because of who you are when you are accessing goods or services, this is harassment.

Under the Equal Status Acts 2000-2015 (ESA) harassment is unlawful if you are covered by any of the specified grounds. Unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature (sexual harassment) is also unlawful.

Harassment is behaviour which:

  • damages your dignity, for example, mimicking a person with a speech impairment in a demeaning way
  • puts you in a hostile situation or environment, for example, displaying posters of a racist nature

Harassment can take many forms, including:

  • actions
  • gestures
  • spoken or written words
  • e-mails, text messages and social media posts
  • pictures

If you are covered by one of the specified grounds and you are harassed while accessing goods or services, it is the service provider who may be responsible.

It is the service provider’s responsibility to make sure that anyone who has a right to the service is not harassed.  They have to show that they did everything that was reasonably practicable to prevent this kind of behaviour, even if it is not them or their staff who are harassing you.

Example Customers make loud racist remarks in a coffee shop which is used by people from many ethnic backgrounds.  The manager warns the customers that they will be barred if they continue to behave in this way. The customers continue to shout racist remarks and the customers are barred from the shop. In this case, the manager arguably took reasonable steps to prevent against harassment on the race ground.

Do you think you have you been, or are being harassed under one or more of the specified grounds?

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