Dubai coffee shop manager sexually harasses new employee for 4 months

Dubai - The incidents took place prior to September 22. A complaint was filed at Al Barsha police station.

A coffee shop manager was charged at the Dubai Court of First Instance for allegedly sexually harassing a female employee.
According to Dubai public prosecution records, the 31-year-old Egyptian manager kept harassing the woman, a Filipina, over a period of four months. He pulled the 26-year-old employee by her trousers several times, slipped his hand inside her clothes, and groped her. He would also make her sit in his lap.
The incidents took place prior to September 22. A complaint was filed at Al Barsha police station.
The complainant, a supervisor, said that the defendant is her colleague and the store keeper. "I have been working at the same coffee shop with him since a year. He would sexually harass me often whether near the counter or behind it."
The woman told the public prosecution investigator that she reported the accused to the human resources manager. "I reported him to the administration after he pulled me by my belt closer to him. He also slipped his hand into my clothes."
She did not report the incident right away because she felt scared. "I had just joined the job and he kept threatening to get me sacked so I felt worried and scared. Two female colleagues witnessed the incident and there are surveillance cameras inside the shop."
She told the prosecutor that she had no prior disputes with the manager and had not provoked him in any way to get him to behave like that. "He did not pay me any amount of money nor did he give me any gift in return for not reporting him."
The human resources executive, a Filipina, 36, said that the victim approached them to complain against the defendant. "He kept harassing her from May to September. She was crying and looked scared. He touched her inappropriately. The man made her sit in his lap and kissed her on the cheek without her consent. We checked the surveillance cameras then filed a complaint at the police station."
A relevant CCTV footage was enclosed to the case file as evidence.
The trial will continue on November 19.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai