A Taiwanese court sided with a longtime female worker who was pushed out of a well-known Hsinchu car plant after her harassment complaint was buried, a costly ruling for the company and a warning to employers.

• A team leader moved the woman into his group, seated her next to him, stared at her constantly and touched her inappropriately, then screamed at her in front of the office when she pulled away.
• Her own managers protected him instead: she was told to stay quiet, was badmouthed internally, and was blocked from transferring to another unit.
• The senior division head learned of it during her exit interview and did nothing — he promoted the accused man and nominated him for an outstanding young engineer award.
• Hsinchu County regulators had already ruled the company broke Taiwan's gender equality at work law by failing to act on a known harassment case.
• The court found she was forced to quit after 15 years in a hostile workplace and ordered the company to pay severance of about NT$326,000.

Outlook: The company can still appeal, but the ruling strengthens the position of Taiwanese workers who quit over harassment their bosses ignored.