Municipality employee to be compensated for three years of sexual relations under conditions of authority

A former cleaning woman at one of the country's municipalities will be compensated with 650,000 shekels following the exploitation of authority by a senior official, who for three years engaged in sexual relations with her in exchange for employment protection. This was confirmed by the judges of the National Labor Court — Ilan Sofer, Sigal Davidov-Motola, and Hani Ofek-Gandler — following appeals filed by the parties against the regional court's ruling.

The employee (54) comes from a difficult socio-economic background and was a victim of gang rape in her youth. In 2012, she began working part-time as a cleaner in a corporation affiliated with the municipality. The senior official, who is a quarter-century older than her, had been employed by the municipality since the 70s and became a department head in the 80s. He was the one who hired her and signed her employment contract. She was fired in July 2021.

In the lawsuit she filed with the regional court, she stated that the official arranged the job for her and noted: "If you don't disappoint me once or twice a week." Since then, according to her, for about three years, sexual encounters took place between them, while he assisted her and her family members and provided her with a sense of protection in the workplace. She emphasized that no physical force was used against her, but noted that when she needed his help, "I had to pay for it with my body."

The official, a 78-year-old man who retired about a decade ago, argued in response that the relationship between them began at her initiative even earlier. According to him, he did assist her in finding work and other matters, but after she began her employment, only isolated sexual encounters took place, and he stopped them because he realized the situation was problematic. According to his version, the relationship lasted only a few months and was cut off in mid-2012.

The regional court accepted the employee's version, determined that a relationship of authority existed between the two, and ordered the official to pay compensation of 600,000 shekels, plus 30,000 shekels in expenses. It was determined that he exploited her weakness, and also "objectified her body and reduced her essence as a person and a woman to a tool for satisfying his urges." On the other hand, the lawsuit against the municipality was dismissed.

Both parties appealed to the National Court, and there the judges rejected the official's arguments. It was determined that the gap between his status, powers, and connections and the disempowered cleaning woman, along with his ability to influence her work, created clear relations of authority that he exploited. It was ruled that this was harassment of the "quid pro quo" type: sexual relations in exchange for benefits, primarily hiring, looking after the employee, and providing her with employment protection.

Regarding the employee's appeal, the National Court accepted her claim that it was not a minimal number of sexual encounters, as the official claimed, but a series of events that lasted about three years with a frequency of at least once a month. Despite this, the judges refrained from interfering with the compensation awarded against him, leaving it at 600,000 shekels. However, they accepted the employee's appeal regarding the municipality. It was determined that the local authority's duties include oversight, given that the official "ensured she was hired by the corporation, signed her employment contract, and continued to 'guard' her, including professionally until his retirement, while exploiting his status and roles in the municipality." Since the municipality did not take the required preventive measures, it was decided to order it to pay a separate compensation of 50,000 shekels.

In summary, the employee was awarded 650,000 shekels, plus legal expenses of 32,500 shekels. Including the expenses from the regional court proceedings, she will receive a total of 712,500 shekels.