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IOL Business reports that a Nedbank manager who told a female colleague to "sit on my lap" and repeatedly called her "beautiful" and "stunning" has had his dismissal upheld by the Labour Court (LC) after an arbitrator initially ruled in his favour.
The Joburg LC this week set aside a controversial CCMA arbitration award that had branded the victim "untruthful" and had ordered the bank to reinstate Olwage with R400,424 in back pay. Marius Olwage lost his payout after Acting Judge Navsa found he had sexually harassed a woman in Nedbank's Specialised Recoveries Department between September 2020 and April 2021. Olwage, who worked as Manager of Field Agents in RRB Recoveries, made persistent comments about his colleague's appearance including "you are so beautiful," "you are so stunning," and "black looks good on you". The harassment escalated in January 2021 during Covid temperature screening when he asked her "why do you not sit in my lap." The court heard Olwage also engaged in intimidation tactics.
Judge Navsa slammed the original arbitrator's decision, saying the commissioner had committed "gross irregularities" by failing to apply sexual harassment guidelines and making unsupported credibility findings against the victim. "The arbitrator's finding that no sexual harassment took place is irregular and equally not a reasonable outcome," Judge Navsa ruled. The judgment reinforced that sexual harassment must be viewed from the victim's perspective. Judge Navsa found the woman's evidence "credible" and "forthright," noting that her walking away from Olwage's advances was clear non-verbal communication that his behaviour was unwanted. The bank was found to have acted fairly in dismissing Olwage, with the court ruling it could not reasonably be expected to continue employing him after his conduct.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicola Mawson at IOL Business
- Read too, Labour Court rules on sexual harassment allegations at Nedbank, at IOL News
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page