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A wide range of conduct can be harassment
For harassment to be prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, the offensive behaviour does not have to be because the target of the harassment has the protected characteristic, for example, harassing an individual because s/he is deaf. It is enough that the conduct relates to the protected characteristic. This is important because it means that a wide range of conduct can now amount to harassment: For example:
• There can be harassment where the conduct takes place because of the worker’s own protected characteristic.
Example: A deaf worker is verbally abused and laughed at for wearing a hearing aid: this is harassment.
• There can be harassment where the conduct “relates to” the protected characteristic.
Example: A disabled worker is denied a disabled parking space because she complained about an unfavourable performance review: this is harassment.
• There can be harassment where conduct is aimed at a group of workers, even though only audience members with the protected characteristic find it offensive.
Example: A trainer giving a general talk makes offensive comments about Muslims, but only the Muslim workers find them offensive: this is harassment.
• Since protection does not depend on the target of the harassment having the protected characteristic, workers are protected where they are targeted because they associate with someone who has the characteristic.
Example: a person is bullied because her son is disabled: this is harassment.
• A person can be protected where he or she is mistakenly believed to have the characteristic.
Example: a person is bullied because the bullies mistakenly think he is gay: this is harassment.
• A person can be protected even if the harasser knows that the target does not have the protected characteristic.
Example: A person engages in offensive and unwanted “teasing” using homophobic language; this is harassment even though the harasser knows that his target is not gay.
• Protection is provided even though the behaviour is not directed at any particular person.
Example: A worker has to put up with working in an offensive office climate, with sexual or racist language, posters, screen savers and so on: this can be harassment.
• There can be harassment where a worker has to witness offensive conduct directed at somebody else who has the “protected characteristic”.
Example: a white worker sees a black worker enduring racist bullying: this can be harassment.