The Armscor board is setting a bad example by failing to take decisive action against the state armament company's CEO, Sipho Thomo, Solidarity said on Monday.

"(We are) strongly opposed to the victimisation and harassment of workers and particularly of female workers," the trade union said in a statement.

This follows media reports over the weekend that Thomo allegedly sexually harassed a female senior manager and victimised her by giving her a poor performance evaluation.

The Chairperson of the board, Popo Molefe was reported to have been in possession of the report (in March) demanding Thomo's suspension while a formal disciplinary inquiry was held.

The report also claimed that other senior staff members were also too afraid of their boss to speak openly about harassment.

"The Armscor board is setting a bad example by its failure to take decisive action against Thomo," Solidarity said.

The union said it was concerned that some managers may keep quiet about the extent of the problem regarding his actions and management style, out of fear for similar victimisation.

Meanwhile, Solidarity has taken legal action against Armscor regarding the company's withholding of performance bonuses in 2007.

"A stipulation in Armscor's performance evaluation policy states that no one in the company can receive a performance bonus unless the CEO is assessed at a 100 percent performance evaluation, regardless of the performance of the individuals in question."

It said that this stipulation was "grossly unfair".

Sapa