Spanish au pair awarded €9,100 over sexual harassment by host family's husband

Workplace Relations Commission heard the husband had asked the au pair if she had any 'naughty pictures' on her phone, while his wife and young child were away on holiday and was also accused of touching her and rubbing the girl’s upper legs while she was sitting on a couch

The WRC heard the au pair was informed by the couple on September 13, 2020, after the husband had returned from a week’s holiday in Portugal, that she was dismissed and asked to leave the house straightaway. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

A married couple have been ordered to pay a former au pair €9,100 in compensation over a finding that the girl had suffered unwelcome sexual advances by the husband while his wife was away on holiday.

The Workplace Relations Commission ruled the 18-year-old Spanish girl had suffered harassment and sexual harassment and had been discriminated against under the Employment Equality Act 1998 on grounds of gender during her two months with the host family.

The WRC heard the husband had asked the au pair if she had any “naughty pictures” on her phone, while his wife and young child were away on holiday, The man — who denied all allegations of sexual harassment — was also accused of touching her and rubbing the girl’s upper legs while she was sitting on a couch.

The au pair, who took up her role on July 16, 2020, claimed the man’s actions made her feel unsafe, fearful, intimidated, humiliated and degraded and they violated her dignity. 

The man said he had been asked to check on the au pair by his wife while she was away on holiday because the girl’s mother was worried about all the people she was meeting from the Tinder dating site.

He claimed he was acting “in loco parentis” and was simply concerned about her welfare.

The couple, who are foreign nationals, said they only found out after hiring the girl that she suffered from depression.

The wife said the au pair was meant to accompany the family on holiday to Spain but asked to stay in Dublin when she heard her husband would not be travelling, They said they had issues with the au pair over her performance, including her inability to put their daughter to sleep or to prepare food for her.

They accepted they had not given the au pair any formal warning.

However, the WRC said that it found the evidence of the au pair more compelling on the balance of probabilities.

The WRC heard that the husband began texting the au pair more frequently after his wife and their daughter went on holiday in August 2020 and in a more conversational and chatty manner.

The au pair told the WRC she initially did not see anything untoward in the man’s behaviour but now believes it was an attempt to flirt with or groom her.

The au pair said she felt the constant messaging was strange and a request to do a video call made her feel uncomfortable and she believed there were ulterior motives.

When she returned home on August 25, 2020, the WRC heard the man asked to see the au pair’s phone so he could see pictures of her friends.

The man then said the au pair was “the prettiest of them all” and described her as “really interesting” and “beautiful”.

'Naughty pictures'

The girl said she made it clear that she was becoming uncomfortable after he asked her if she had any “naughty pictures” of herself of the phone He also claimed his wife was “going crazy” because she was on holiday while he was home alone with the au pair before he placed his hands at her armpits and used his fingers in a tickling fashion.

The au pair said the man continued tickling her even though she has asked him a number of times to stop.

She said he then sat on the couch beside her and started rubbing her upper legs and said he found her “very interesting”. The au pair said the man only stopped touching her when she got up off the couch.

The girl said she could not sleep out of fear that night as she did not have a key for her bedroom.

She told the WRC she had no idea how the situation had arisen, she regarded the nature of their relationship as purely professional and she had no physical or emotional interest in him. She denied ever flirting with the man or expressing any kind of romantic interest in him.

She claimed his conduct was entirely unwanted and inappropriate and his conduct was reported to gardaí on September 15, 2020.

A week after the man’s wife returned from holiday, the couple had an argument and the woman called the gardaí.

The au pair told her about what happened while she was away after the woman confided she had called gardaí on at least one other occasion.

The au pair said she was informed by the couple on September 13, 2020, after the husband had returned from a week’s holiday in Portugal, that she was dismissed and asked to leave the house straightaway.

The woman said she thought it was “for the best because I need to get over what happened between you two”. 

The WRC heard it was extremely cruel treatment and victimisation to evict the au pair and to leave a young woman wander a city unknown to her at night-time during a pandemic.

However, the WRC ruled that eight complaints filed by the au pair that she was not paid the national minimum wage were not well-founded.