Madalena Caldeira analyses evidentiary challenges in workplace moral harassment cases | ECO

Madalena Caldeira highlights that, despite the growing attention given to moral harassment in the workplace, proving it in court continues to face significant obstacles, often turning litigation into a clash of opposing accounts.

She notes that, as moral harassment tends to manifest through subtle and repeated behaviours, it rarely leaves a clear documentary trail, leading many cases to rely predominantly on the credibility of witness testimony.

Despite its legal prohibition and the duties imposed on employers to safeguard workers’ moral integrity, the author emphasises that effective protection ultimately depends on more consistent evidentiary standards, particularly regarding the repetition of conduct, its impact on the victim, and the causal link between behaviour and harm suffered.

Finally, she warns of the risk that more sophisticated forms of harassment, precisely because they are less visible, may more easily evade proof. She advocates for the implementation of robust internal mechanisms within organisations, concluding that only through such measures will it be possible to overcome the so-called “impossible proof” and ensure effective protection of workers’ rights.

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