Someone filmed my daughter using the toilet

[edmel]

I could really use some advice for my daughter who is currently feeling helpless and unheard.

Just over a week ago, she was using the toilet at work. It is a fully self-contained cubicle (with wash basin etc) with a door that opens straight onto a communal corridor. She told me that there used to be a second door between the toilet and the door leading into the corridor, but it was damaged, taken away, and never replaced.

While using the toilet, she saw a hand under the door holding a phone, filming her. She videoed the hand/phone, knowing that as soon as she got up, the person would quickly move away from the door. She wanted proof.

As she started filming them, the person - as predicted - fled.

She took the footage straight to her employer, and the police were called.

Within moments of this event, a colleague noticed another colleague (male) rushing back to his seat, white faced. She thought his behaviour strange at the time. When it was revealed what had happened to my daughter, she reported him.

His phone case matched the one in the video.

The police promised he would be prosecuted, and my daughter - absolutely traumatised by the entire thing - was given paid leave.

Despite assurances from the police, she received a text from them on Friday (not even a phone call) to say there was not enough evidence and that a prosecution would not be going ahead.

Her employer is now saying she must return to work - alongside this man.

She is devastated and does not know what way to turn. No one has been held to account, and she is expected to carry on as usual, knowing someone (highly likely this man) has this footage of her.

Can anyone recommend who to turn to?

How awful, hour poor DD.

Have the police checked his phone? Although he probably deleted it.

It sounds like her employer has handled this really badly.

Is your DD a member of a union? If so I would suggest taking advice from the union. Sorry this happened to her.

Putting aside the criminal case, she now needs to raise a grievance for sexual harassment in the workplace and include their failure to protect her as part of her complaint.

How awful.Can she take some time off sick? She should get legal advise because they are not safeguarding her in the work place, so I think this could be constructive dismissal.

God that sounds awful. I’m sorry for your daughter.

Call an employment lawyer. They will give you free 30 minutes.
Also call ACAS for advice.
is she a member of a union?

she needs to raise this formally with her employer.
what do they say about it or what have they done about it?
is he definitely still at work?
this would be gross misconduct in a work place.

she can raise a grievance on this man and there should be an internal investigation by the employer. If there is any evidence then I would imagine he would be suspended pending investigation. But as a week has passed he may well have changed his phone case and got rid of any evidence.

an employer can make a decision on the balance of probability. It’s not the same as the legal system which requires proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Yes I was going to say about raising a grievance against him for sexual harassment and also her employer for not handling it properly

She should get some advice from acas about where to go with her employer.

criminal case wise there is nothing she can do but in terms of work there should be avenues she can explore

The threshold for prosecution to succeed is high; offence has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

For a disciplinary at work the threshold is balance of probability. If your DD has video then she's at least got a starter question. She needs to report it formally and insist it's properly dealt with. Union would be good otherwise ACAS or lawyer.

Jesus that is awful. Your poor daughter.

Agree with PPs that she needs to raise a grievance immediately

The problem the employer faces is when they raise a case against him his defence will be the police investigation cleared me ( we all know being cleared and not enough evidence is 2 separate things)
there isn’t a way to prove nobody else doesn’t have the same case

I’m sure life will be extremely uncomfortable for him I can’t imagine he’ll be there long

but in the mean time grievance procedure and if she gets sick pay she need to ring in sick

@edmel is there no cctv in the hallway outside the toilet??

Thank you everyone, for your advice. She is calling ACAS today - unfortunately, she's not a union member. She will also call an employment lawyer. She was grateful for all your messages as - up to now - she felt that no one really understood how traumatic the entire event and the aftermath has been.

Unfortunately not.

Definitely raise a grievance. Just to note the employer shouldn't fall back on the lack of prosecution as a reason for taking no further action as there is plenty of balance of probability evidence here.

As PP said raising a grievance is the way forward. The standard for employee grievances isn't a criminal standard (ie beyond all reasonable doubt), it's basically what does the evidence reasonably suggest. So in this case, colleague witness, phone evidence etc she should have a strong case

If your daughter feels like she needs someone to talk to about how she is feeling then she may benefit from contacting a sexual assault charity, there may even be some that specialise voyeurism

I hope she is ok

It is sometimes possible to retrieve deleted material from phone downloads.

I would request that his phone is forensically interrogated as part of their investigation. He can, of course decline.

Hmm, would you let your employers forensically examine your phone, even if you were innocent of the allegations against you?

Does your DD know if it was a work owned phone the man was using?

As pp's have said she should raise a grievance. At this stage I wouldn't go in too hard on the employers failure to protect her though, all the training, awareness, reasonable steps to prevent etc. won't always stop pervers perving. I'd keep that in my back pocket if they don't take it seriously and aren't supporting her.

Yes, I would, as I don't have anything on it that would interest them. It wouldn't be the employers themselves who would be looking at it and the people they hire to do it wouldn't be interested in general moans about work - they would be looking at photos.

This is awful. Lots of advices here but I just wondering what kind of industry it is? I don't think I've even seen a toilet with open top/bottom open directly into a public space and as a workplace I don't understand how they can do that.

Is there cctv in the office that shows him leaving his desk at that time?
His computer records could also show if he was logged on working.

She needs to log a formal complaint immediately and let them investigate.

I’m sorry OP, how awful for her - and I can imagine she is disgusted at the thought of him not only getting away with this but her having to work alongside him.

She needs to make sure her work knows that she us not going to drop this - I would be kicking off about this. How many other women has he done this with?

Sadly this stuff is not as uncommon as people think, there’s been quite a few stories recently of men being prosecuted for filming women and girls in changing rooms, and it makes me so angry to think how many people seem to be championing gender neutral toilets / changing areas.

Woman need a defined space away from men for privacy and dignity reasons.

Sorry for everyone saying work handled this horrendously or incorrectly. How exactly?
A complaint was made, they felt it serious enough to call the police.
Police came and were allowed to conduct their enquiries.
Daughter has been asked to return to work.
There is an unknown quantity here.....what else HR did. E.g. disciplined the person, gave them a written warning, in fact who knows if he even still works there.
Of course daughter can claim sexual harassment and report. ( I would hope HR have already recorded this).

I would suggest best way forward is to request a meeting with HR to discuss her return and what can be done to make her feel safe again.