/ 8 December 2017

‘Sex pest claim got me fired’

Denial: The University of Free State has reiterated that it dismissed the former employee for fraud and not because she complained that another staff member had sexually harrassed her.
Denial: The University of Free State has reiterated that it dismissed the former employee for fraud and not because she complained that another staff member had sexually harrassed her.

A University of Free State (UFS) employee who was fired for allegedly lying on her CV claims she was actually dismissed for charging her supervisor with sexual harassment.

But the university has denied any wrongdoing and said it was “coincidental” that her CV was investigated after she had lodged her complaint.

She reported the incidents of sexual harassment in July. In September, she and her supervisor attended a two-day mediation process instituted by the university’s human resources department and the matter was settled: he apologised and she accepted his apology.

But a week later, she received a letter from the human resources department saying the university intended to terminate her employment because she had provided false work experience references on her CV and had created a false profile.

“Your fraudulent and dishonest conduct therefore renders the trust relationship as irrevocably broken down … the university has no other option but to terminate [your] services with immediate effect,” reads the letter.

The employee was given two days to submit reasons for why she should not be fired. In response, she refuted the university’s claims and attached documents in support of this. She added that she believed there was an ulterior motive based on the sexual harassment case.

In a letter to vice-chancellor Professor Francis Petersen, she repeated that the allegations against her were “concocted” for ulterior motives and alleged that she had been threatened by her supervisor.

“Subsequent to the closure of the mediation process, [the alleged perpetrator] intimidated me by saying he has something on me too, and that was my fraud and dishonesty in providing work experience in my CV when I applied for the position,” she said.

UFS spokesperson Lacea Loader said the former employee’s termination was based on her fraudulent action and misrepresentation: “[It] had absolutely nothing to do with the sexual harassment grievance that she has lodged. She has accepted the outcome of the process the UFS has followed without any reservations or conditions. It was merely coincidental that the processes followed so close together.”

Loader said it was “irrelevant” whether the investigation came about as a result of any action by her supervisor, because “the university is bound by legislation, codes of conduct, policies and practice to investigate irregularities reported and to take the necessary action”. Loader said the matter had been referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday.

The Mail & Guardian has seen an email written by the alleged perpetrator in September after the mediation process, which says: “I hereby apologise for proposing a romantic relationship with you. I hereby apologise for physically touching you inappropriately.”

But the apology was qualified when it was offered “under mediation process; and should the matter be taken further my apology will not stand and my apology cannot be used against me in any disciplinary hearing”.

Three days after the former employee was fired, her lawyers contacted the university. The university’s lawyers told them there was no investigation report. “However, an informal investigation was conducted by our client’s human resources division and the findings thereof were communicated to your client.”

The lawyers also said that the university did not have a sexual harassment policy and relied on guidelines of the “code of good practice on sexual harassment”, read with its internal managers’ pocket guide.