The Brussels public transport company MIVB has called several of its employees to account following reports of sexist messages sent in a WhatsApp group. The news appears in Friday’s edition of the Francophone daily ‘La Dernière Heure’. A journalist from the paper has read a staff memo sent by MIVB regarding the sexist messages sent in the WhatsApp group. MIVB confirms that it has conducted an investigation and that it is taking the matter “very seriously.”
Male metro drivers used sexual criteria to rate female colleagues in WhatsApp group
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The memo dates from December and was sent by MIVB’s Metro Business Unit, the unit that manages the Brussels metro.
The memo reads “We have been made aware of the existence of sexist messages that have been posted in a drivers’ WhatsApp group. In the messages female drivers are ranked on the basis of sexual criteria”
"This is extremely serious, totally unacceptable and contrary to our values, Belgian law and our own regulations. This attitude is completely incompatible with what we expect from those working at MIVB."
In addition to this the memo also states that this the first time that this kind of thing has happened.
No hard evidence
MIVB has confirmed to VRT News that an internal investigation was carried out after several female metro drivers had reported sexist WhatsApp messages. "But of course they weren’t in the WhatsApp groups themselves, so we don’t have any hard evidence of what was written. This makes it very difficult to identify and punish those responsible", MIVB’s spokesman Guy Sablon said.
"This is why we sent a general memo to part of our staff stating that we know what is going on and we won’t tolerate it. We are taking this very seriously. There are severe penalties, such as immediate dismissal for this kind of behaviour”.
Mr Sablon added that MIVB continues to invest in training and awareness campaigns about sexism in the workplace.
The internal memo sent to staff mentions the possibility of fines of up to 48,000 euro and custodial sentences of up to 3 years if those responsible for the messages were prosecuted.