Boss Allegedly Molested Employee 3 Times & Even Claimed They Had an Affair

Horrible Bosses may have been fictional at best…

But it appears that sexual harassment from higher-ups is not a notion that’s confined to the 2D world.

According to TODAYonline, a 54-year-old man has been accused of molesting his subordinate on three separate occasions…

On the supposed grounds that he was, well, aroused.

Boss Molested Employee 3 Times & Even Claimed They Had an Affair

According to the news report, Tan Chee Beng, 54, is currently standing trial for the alleged molestation of his subordinate.

He faces three charges of molestation and one of disrespecting the purported victim’s modesty between August 2018 and January 2019.

Due to a court gag order, the woman’s identity cannot be revealed.

According to the alleged victim, Tan first behaved inappropriately sometime between 15 August and 10 September 2018.

Apparently, she had been showing him a work order on her computer when he complimented her on the fragrance of her hair.

Claiming that he was aroused, he then pulled her hand to his groin area.

Startled, she retracted her hand and told him to stop.

However, Tan purportedly did not comply, and tried to commit the act again.

Upset and fearful, she then left the office.

“I was starting to feel very scared,” she testified. “I was a single mum with two kids and I really needed the job. I was afraid that if I made a police report, I would lose my job, they would fire me.”

The second molestation occurred in the next month, when she was donning a dress and positioned next to a whiteboard.

Tan reportedly “swiped at her groin area over her dress twice in quick succession”.

“I felt really scared and very upset. I ran out of the office immediately and started crying,” she said.

Apparently, he was smiling the whole time.

After rushing out of the office, she supposedly ran into two other male colleagues. Emotional and in distress, she told them what had happened.

At this point, Tan allegedly walked out, entered his car and asked her to bring him up to date with deliveries before driving off.

It didn’t end there.

Third Charge

On 10 September 2018, the alleged victim decided that enough was enough.

“Sam, I think you should stop whatever you’re trying to do,” she wrote in a text message to Tan. “I don’t feel comfortable.”

In response, Tan allegedly called to apologise, and requested for her to delete the message.

Suspicious of his request, she ended up keeping it for her own “safety”.

However, she was under the belief that he would stop, and as such did not file a police report.

“I assumed he knows I’m not okay with whatever he is trying to do,” she added.

But the assault would resume in January 2019, when Tan purportedly molested her while they were inside a cold room.

He only stopped when another male colleague walked in.

Thereafter, it was revealed that her colleague had told one of the firm’s directors about what happened.

The director told the alleged victim to consider filing a police report.

However, Tan approached her the following week, informing her that the director had contacted him.

Apparently, Tan told the director that he was having an affair with the alleged victim.

This infuriated the woman, who finally couldn’t take it and went on to file a police report at Nanyang Neighbourhood Police Centre.

As police officers advised her to maintain a distance from the office, she took unpaid leave for two weeks.

Upon her return, however, she found out that they did not approve of her application.

She was subsequently released from her job.

Mere Fabrications

Tan’s lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam has since denied the allegations on his client’s part.

Instead, he accused the alleged victim of making things up, as she “wanted a hold” over Tan.

In court, Mr Thuraisingam made a number of pressing inquiries, including her dissatisfaction level at having to work on Saturdays and whether she had a positive working relationship with Tan.

Apparently, the alleged victim agreed that Tan would reprimand her whenever she made mistakes.

The lawyer also alleged that Tan had actually scolded her for failing to update the whiteboard, instead of molesting her as she alleged.

Unable to take the scolding, she then broke into tears and dashed out of the office.

Feeling insecure, she proceeded to deceive her male colleagues to earn some form of “insurance”, and delivered the incriminating message to Tan to “put it on record”.

He also accused her of keeping the dates vague, so that the incidents were effectively unverifiable.

The alleged victim has denied all of Mr Thuraisingam’s accusations.

If found guilty of molestation, Tan could face a prison term of up to two years, fine, or both.

If found guilty of disrespecting a woman’s modesty, he could be imprisoned for up to a year, fined, or both.

Previous Instances

Though rarely publicised, sexual harassment on a managerial level is far from being non-existent.

In a poll done in 2008, the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) found that a little over half of the 500 survey takers had gone through some form of sexual harassment at work.

This spanned from receiving highly suggestive messages or content to being molested and ultimately, rape.

In the first six months of 2017, Aware received 35 calls on workplace sexual harassments.

It received 74 in the year of 2016, and 56 in 2015.

And in 2019, YouGov Omnibus research discovered that 26% of Singaporean women have experienced sexual harassment.

This means out of the four women you know, one of them has experienced sexual harassment.

Only 52% of those who have faced sexual harassment reported about it.

Reasons why people choose not to report include embarrassment, fear of repercussion and a feeling that no one will do anything about the problem.

However, the #MeToo movement appears to have improved things. According to the research, 48% of Singaporeans are aware of the movement, with 64% under the impression that the movement will increase victims’ chances of talking about sexual harassment.

Apart from sexual harassment by individuals of a higher hierarchical level, reports have also been made against celebrities, lecturers and food delivery riders.

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