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The Ombudsman against Discrimination on grounds of Sexual Orientation has ceased to exist. On 1 January 2009 the Ombudsman was merged with the other Ombudsmen against discrimination into a new body: the Swedish Equality Ombudsman. The previously existing acts against discrimination were also replaced with a new Discrimination Act. Some of the material on this website may therefore be out of date. For more information, see: www.do.se
Building materials outlet – Notice/dismissal – Probationary employment – Harassment Following employment on a trial basis as cash point supervisor at a building materials store in the Stockholm area, a woman lodged the following complaint with the Ombudsman. She commenced her duties on 20 November 2001. She had the impression that management was fully satisfied with her work. On 12 December, her superior convened a staff meeting to which she was not invited, and therefore she concluded that the meeting was about her. When she subsequently questioned the store manager and the sales manager about what had happened at the meeting, they said that the staff felt there was a problem with her sexual orientation. On 17 December 2001, the company informed her that her probationary employment would be terminated. The woman is a member of the Swedish Commercial Employees’ Union. The Union demanded negotiations with the employer, in which it claimed that the company had breached Sections 3 and 8 of Act on a Ban against Discrimination in Working Life on grounds of Sexual Orientation. The company had decided to terminate probationary employment because the employee was homosexual. The store manager, the sales manager and the operations manager had all told her that the staff regarded her sexual orientation as a problem. She had suffered harassment on the grounds of her sexual orientation as a result of the action of her colleagues. In view of this, the company should have investigated the circumstances involved. The company denied that that there was a connection between notice of termination of employment and the woman’s sexual orientation. The real reason for terminating her probationary employment was that she was not considered to be suitable for her duties as cash point supervisor. The cash point staff said that she was aggressive, interfered with well-established routines and used inappropriate language. She also had an intrusive and provocative style and had made comments with sexual allusions which the personnel found highly unpleasant. On one occasion, she had left work early without receiving permission and, on another occasion, she had failed to report a cash discrepancy of SEK 400. The woman totally rejected the company’s statements. After concluding the negotiations and additional investigations, the union announced that it had decided not to pursue the matter in a court of law. In the course of an overall assessment of all the circumstances, the Ombudsman concluded that the prerequisites indicated in Section 24 of the OmbudsmanL for the initiation of an action did not apply. As a result, the case was closed. (Decision of 15 July 2002, Dossier No. 353/01) |
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HomO | Box 3327, 103 66 Stockholm | E-mail: homo@homo.se | Phone: +46 (0)8 508 887 80 | Fax: +46 (0)8 508 887 90 |
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