Employers often let employee grievances slide, especially when raised by juniors against senior or valuable staff. However, a recent Free State High Court judgment raised a huge red flag for employers not to let these incidents slide. 

In this case, Ms Louw, a Surgical Theatre Manager at a private hospital, alleged that Dr Grobler, a specialist at the same hospital, had verbally abused her. She brought the case to the High Court seeking damages for harm to her bodily integrity, dignity, and reputation.

Ms Louw testified that over the years, Dr Grobler had consistently verbally abused her and others with profanities, insults, blasphemous language, and obscenities, often in front of other operating theatre staff and members of the public.

The claim instituted against the private hospital was that it had failed to come to the assistance of Ms Louw, notwithstanding her numerous requests and lodgement of complaints. The private hospital was said to have failed to act against Dr Grobler even though it was common knowledge that he treated Ms Louw and other theatre staff similarly. Furthermore, the private hospital was accused of failing to create a working environment in which its employees were protected and not subjected to verbal abuse. No reasonable steps had been taken by the private hospital to preserve and protect the psychological well-being, mental tranquillity and dignity of Ms Louw, and were therefore accused of wrongfully breaching its legal duty owed to its employee.

After the hearing of Ms Louw’s evidence and that of her expert witness, the private hospital tendered the amount of R300 000.00 as to the quantum of damages, both general damages and damages in respect of future medical expenses. Ms Louw accepted the tender of the aforesaid amount, but not the published apology. 

Ultimately, the court found that the private hospital had allowed its employees to be abused by Dr Grobler for its own financial interests and the private hospital was aware of Dr Grobler’s behaviour even before the appointment of Ms Louw as the Unit Manager. In so finding, the court further directed the private hospital to pay a part of Ms Louw’s legal costs.  

The judgment highlighted that an employer has a legal, or perhaps reasonable, duty towards their employees who suffer abuse, at the hands of their managers or supervisors. 

To mitigate such risk, employers must create a safe working environment for their employees and decisively address concerns escalated by their staff. In so doing, an employer should implement precautionary measures such as:

• policies on harassment and abuse
• grievance policy and procedures to allow management to address the grievances; 
• inform all who work or enter the premises of the employer to refrain from contravening the employer’s policies; 
• train employees, supervisors and managers on the content of the policies and how to handle workplace grievances; 
• regular reports on the implementation of the policy to senior management; and 
• conduct regular monitoring of the implementation of the policy by senior management and review thereof.

In light of the above-mentioned case, it's clear that addressing employee grievances with diligence is crucial for any employer. To ensure your company is protected and compliant, consult with a legal expert. 


Disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion/view of the author(s) and is not necessarily that of the firm. The content is provided for information only and should not be seen as an exact or complete exposition of the law. Accordingly, no reliance should be placed on the content for any reason whatsoever and no action should be taken on the basis thereof unless its application and accuracy have been confirmed by a legal advisor. The firm and author(s) cannot be held liable for any prejudice or damage resulting from action taken on the basis of this content without further written confirmation by the author(s).