OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint filed by AA against BB … and VV. In her complaint, the applicant stated, among other things, that on September 12, 2019, in the branch office of BB in … street in …, in the presence of two counter clerks and the “official” security guards of the bank, she was verbally attacked by “an unknown young man” who on that occasion addressed her with the “most terrible” expletives and insults such as: “whore”, “Ustasha”, “Bosnian singer”, “f…ked be by the language you speak”, “go back where you came from”, “f…ked be also by the GG Singing Society”, which is why she repeatedly turned to the bank security guard with a request to protect her from the young man who was insulting her. The complainant clarified that she was born in …, holds the citizenship of the Republic of Croatia, speaks the Croatian language, is of Jewish origin, and is the president of the association “GG Singing Society”. Also, in the complaint, she stated that in addition to the insults and curses related to her nationality and gender, the feeling of anxiety and humiliation was also caused by the fact that “none” of the employees at the bank branch reacted to the young man insulting her, which is why she submitted a complaint to the bank and reported the young man to the PS… During the procedure, it was established that acting on the complainant’s report, the PS … carried out an investigation, during which they inspected the footage of the security cameras and took statements from the employees who were present at the event of September 12, 2019, that took place at the bank’s branch office in … street, and based on these actions, submitted a request for initiating misdemeanor proceedings against VV due to the committed misdemeanor from Article 9, paragraph 1 of the Law on Public Order and Peace. Bearing in mind that regarding the abovementioned event, which is the subject of the Commissioner’s analysis against VV, proceedings have already been initiated before the competent court, and that the provisions of Article 36, Paragraph 1 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination prescribe that the Commissioner does not act on a complaint if the proceedings before the court on the same matter have already been initiated or legally concluded, the proceedings against VV were suspended. Furthermore, bearing in mind that the complaint was also filed against the Bank, the Commissioner analyzed whether the branch employees took appropriate actions to prevent humiliating and insulting behavior towards the complainant, as well as whether and what measures the Bank took after learning about the said incident. In this regard, the Commissioner notes that based on the statements of bank employees and security guards who attended the event on September 12, 2019, which were submitted with the Bank’s statement, it was established that the bank employees did not ask the bank security guard to react to the behavior of the young man who addressed discriminatory and sexist insults and expletives to the complainant. Also, based on the statements of the Bank, it can be concluded that the employees did not inform the Bank’s management or the competent state authorities, especially the police, about the incident, although, as the witnesses stated, “the client VV was known to them from before as a high conflict person”. Assessing the above and bearing in mind the allegations of the complaint, the statements of the bank and the witnesses, the Commissioner is of the opinion that the measures taken by the employees of the Bank, including the security guard, in this particular case, were not adequate, sufficient, and efficient to prevent VV from addressing the complainant with sexist and discriminatory insults based on her nationality and gender, as well as to cause the complainant to feel threatened, humiliated and afraid due to such statements. Further, regarding the allegation from the Bank’s statement “that it is unclear for what reasons the complaint was filed against the Bank, because the employees neither actively nor passively contributed to the behavior that had an offensive character”, the Commissioner points out that the act of discrimination can also be committed by failing to take specific actions, as a result of which a person, due to some of their characteristics, is placed in an unjustifiably disadvantageous position, as well as that the intention is not legally relevant for the existence of discrimination, i.e., that the act of discrimination can be carried out even in ignorance that acting or failing to act, that is, omission to act, is contrary to anti-discrimination regulations. Bearing in mind that, based on the conducted proceedings and submitted evidence, it was established that the Bank did not take measures to prevent insults on the national basis and sexist statements of VV addressed to the complainant, that the Bank was informed on the incident that happened in the branch office in … by the written complaint of the complainant, and not by the employees who witnessed the incident, as well as the fact that the Bank did not take any action to show its disapproval of the discriminatory, sexist and insulting statements to which the complainant was exposed in the Bank, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued the opinion that the Bank violated the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. Namely, by failing to take adequate measures against VV, who, on September 12, 2019, in the branch office of BB …, with insults based on nationality and gender, violated the dignity of the complainant based on her personal characteristics, creating a hostile, humiliating and offensive environment, BB … violated the provisions of Article 6 in connection with Article 12 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. Therefore, BB … was recommended to send a written apology to the complainant for the harassment and humiliating treatment she was subjected to in the branch office of BB …, as well as to comply with the regulations on the prohibition of discrimination in the future within the scope of its regular work and activities.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković