Sydney Water has failed to quash a FWC finding that clears the way for a former employee whose image was used in a suggestive OHS poster to pursue more than $1 million in damages on the basis its botched response forced her to resign.
In a case that illustrates sexual harassment problems at remote mine sites, the Commission has upheld BHP Billiton's sacking of a service technician after he groped and pursued two young female cleaners, prompting one to leave the "too unsafe to return" worksite.
Victoria's Supreme Court has ruled that an employer might have treated a manager unfavourably because of her age and sex when it ignored her repeated requests to provide her similar over-agreement pay rates to those afforded to male colleagues, while it has also found that the State's equal opportunity laws enable consideration of "unconscious bias".
A tribunal has awarded a s-xually harassed and assaulted beauty therapist $150,000 in general damages, equal to $70 per day for the six years she has suffered and will likely continue to suffer the effects of the conduct.
Former Workplace Gender Equality Agency director Libby Lyons has called for "radical changes" to stamp out unfairness in the Fair Work Act, ditch gendered terms and discriminatory clauses in agreements and stop stereotyping women as caregivers.
The Victorian Supreme Court has confirmed that an investigation by leading barrister Kate Eastman SC found that one of its former judges subjected two former associates to sexual harassment and/or sex-based discrimination.
The religious discrimination bills now look unlikely to pass before the expected May election, after the Senate delayed debate until Parliament resumes next month.
