Saudi Arabia: Female employee takes manager to court over lewd WhatsApp joke

Defendant charged with harassment of employee and violation of anti-cybercrime law

Cairo: A Saudi court is hearing harassment claims made by a female employee against an expatriate manager who allegedly sent her a lewd joke in a WhatsApp message.

The claimant, a human resources specialist, filed a legal complaint accusing the manager of subjecting her to verbal harassment through messages containing sexual insinuations from his private phone, Saudi newspaper Okaz reported.

The employee said she had demanded that the man not send her messages outside working hours or for matters unrelated to work.

However, the manager, an Arab national, allegedly continued to harass her, the woman claimed, saying she had previously reproached him and officially complained to the company, but to no avail. Therefore, she went to court and insisted that she has WhatsApp messages and witnesses to prove his misconduct.

For his part, the man denied harassing the employee and argued that the message at the centre of the case had been sent to her by mistake, and he later apologised to her. He also attributed her accusation to a work-related dispute and requested that the suit be dismissed.

Investigators examined a report that included copies of WhatsApp messages containing lewd jokes, the paper said.

The man was charged with harassment and breach of the Saudi anti-cybercrime law. The Jeddah-based court is set to issue a decision on the case shortly, Okaz reported.

If convicted, the defendant could face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to SR300,000.

Earlier this year, Saudi authorities began naming people arrested for sexual harassment in a step aimed at shaming them and deterring would-be offenders.

Under Saudi law, sexual harassment is punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of SR100,000 or one of both acts. Penalties are toughened to up to five years in prison and a fine of SR300,000 in case of repetition or when the act is committed in public or at a workplace.

Saudi authorities have said legal punishment against sex harassment is irreversible even if the victim renounced their own right or did not file a legal complaint.

If the victim is a child, a person with special needs, or has been subjected to the act while sleeping or unconscious, the crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of SR300,000, or one of both penalties.