A Gauteng nurse, who previously accused Clicks Pharmacy’s management of ill-treating her for reporting sexual harassment, has been suspended for breaching company ethics by talking to the media about the alleged abuse, reports The Citizen.
Linda Motloung, who was working for Tsakane Clicks Pharmacy Clinic in Brakpan, Gauteng, was suspended last Friday due to “pending investigations into allegations of gross misconduct and a serious breach of company policies”.
“Around May 2024, you initially changed the clinic trading hours and failed to comply with instructions from the employer that you immediately stop closing the facility before 5pm,” the suspension letter reads.
The second charge was for bringing the company into disrepute by talking to the media and saying she was being mistreated by management as punishment for reporting sexual harassment.
“This … was published in a national publication and online. You did this knowing the information related to the matter had been resolved by the employer or was currently being investigated. This has brought the name of the company into disrepute,” the suspension letter reads.
Motloung has rejected the claims and said she would be challenging it legally.
Showdown
She said she had been at work “when a woman claiming to be an official from Click’s head office came called me to the stress room”.
“When I got there, she said we needed an urgent meeting to talk about my suspension, but I refused because I was not prepared. When I wanted to walk out, she literally blocked my way,” Motloung said.
“She produced documents, including the suspension letter, but I refused to sign it so she read me the contents. This is a sign that the Clicks management believes I was wrong in reporting sexual harassment.
“They are trying to get rid of me because I stood up to the abuse. They suspended me while the case concerning the matter was ongoing at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.”
She said she was in consultation with the union.
Harassment allegations
The incident stemmed from last year when a store manager is claimed to have told her to lubricate her finger with breast milk to unlock a security door.
At the time Motloung had a newborn baby. She said she reported this to management.
The second incident involved the same man who said that the next time she struggled to open the security door, she should use her finger “the same way she uses it when she is with her partner”.
Although the manager was cleared of any wrongdoing, she challenged the hearing outcome, but thereafter, management started to mistreat her, so she obtained a protection order against some of them.
She also asked for a transfer to another clinic.
The Citizen has seen a letter in which Clicks rejected her transfer application.
Bridget Makhura, the Clicks group chief people officer, said: “Motloung is on a precautionary suspension pending the outcome of an internal disciplinary process.
“This is to allow a fair and unhindered process to take place. Her suspension does not relate to the sexual harassment complaint she previously raised, or to her speaking to the media.”
Labour analyst Bukani Mngoma said there was a need for employers to take sexual harassment allegations seriously.
“Advice to consider is the option of resigning and then claiming constructive dismissal.”
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