2 days ago
Gauteng High Court upholds protection order against manager for offensive language
The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, ruled that the use of profane language at work towards a colleague is not workplace banter.
Image: File
Repeated insults with the use of profane and demeaning language during a salary dispute with a colleague resulted in a line manager being slapped with a protection against harassment order, which he now tried to overturn, stating that his language simply constituted 'workplace banter'.
But the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, did not agree and turned down the appeal against the harassment order.
The court said words such as the 'f' word and calling someone an 'asshole' did not belong in the workplace.
Nonhlanhla Mabuza obtained the protection order in April against her line manager, Garth Roberts. Both work for a company known as Africa Rainbow Minerals.
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Mabuza joined the company in 2019 and was placed on a three-month probation period at a specified salary.
After serving her probation, she was confirmed permanently, but her salary was reduced by R3,000. No reasons were given to Mabuza for this reduction.
This discrepancy necessitated a meeting between her and Roberts, during which a representative of the human resources department was also present. The proceedings were recorded.
It is not disputed that Roberts told Mabuza during the meeting that she signed a 'f***ing' paper because she is an 'asshole'. The issue in the appeal is to determine whether these utterances constitute harassment, justifying a protection order against him.
Judge Percival Motha, during the appeal, inquired from counsel for Roberts whether it is proper for a white man to call a black woman an 'asshole' in this racially charged society. The answer was a clear 'no'.
Judge Majake Mabesele, who sat with Judge Motha on the appeal and who wrote the judgment, remarked that although the question raised with counsel is legitimate, the court is alive to the fact that the emphasis should not be placed on race in this matter.
'Instead, the emphasis should be placed on 'power'. Harassment at the workplace knows no race. It is about misuse of power, thereby violating a person's right to dignity, and a right not to be subjected to psychological torture,' Judge Mabesele said.
Roberts' lawyer, meanwhile, argued that the utterances made by his client, objectively viewed, were not of such an overwhelmingly oppressive nature as to make them oppressive and unreasonable.
He argued that Roberts was, at the time, attempting to assist Mabuza with a salary situation and that she thanked him for attending the meeting.
In his argument, the lawyer stressed the point that the word 'asshole' is regarded as workplace banter and could not have caused Mabuza serious distress.
However, the judge stated that this argument lacks merit.
'The word 'asshole' should be regarded as an insult in circumstances where a female is accused of wrongdoing by a male person. The word becomes extremely disturbing and causes serious fear and distress when uttered simultaneously with the 'f' word, as it transpired in the meeting between Mr Roberts and Ms Mabuza,' Judge Mabesele said.
He added that it is apparent from the entire recorded conversation that the word 'asshole' was uttered more than once and the 'f' word was uttered three times, despite protest by Mabuza, who was pleading for a salary adjustment.
Mabuza told the court the reason for her obtaining a protection order against him was not simply because he called her an 'asshole' or used the 'f' word.
'This is just to show how Mr Roberts is.'
But the court said logic dictates that the words that were uttered to her must have caused her serious distress.
