Office sex pests cost millions Office sex pests cost millions

23 June 2003 - SEX pests cost Australian bosses more than $1 million last year, as payouts for sexual harassment and sex discrimination continue to skyrocket.

Victorian businesses paid up to $15 million more managing the fallout from such claims, Equal Opportunity Commission figures show. Some victims reporting workplace comments such as "nice tits", questions about underwear and inappropriate casual touching have received up to $50,000.

The figures were released as the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission head called for tougher laws to deter and punish sexual harassers.

New data from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission shows payouts to sexual harassment and sex discrimination victims have more than doubled in the past five years.

In 12 months to March 30 this year, payouts totalled $1,005,992, compared with $392,350 for the 1998-99 financial year.

These payouts do not include confidential settlements, or cases settled before they reached conciliation in the commission -- likely to total many millions of dollars more.

The biggest payout of $56,000 in the past year was awarded to a bank worker who claimed

pregnancy discrimination after she was told to start a new position three months after she started maternity leave.

Another woman received $45,000 after she claimed she was sexually harassed while awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a decision to dismiss her. The harasser asked her questions about her underwear, asked to touch her breasts and requested she give him oral sex.

Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission chief executive Diane Sisely said the average cost of sorting out a sexual harassment problem within an organisation was $35,000.

This includes court or tribunal costs of up to $10,000 a day and the lost salary of the victim.

It does not include the cost of replacing employees who leave because of harassment, which is estimated at between 85 per cent to 150 per cent of their annual salary.

She said there was a need for "tougher laws to ensure people do not get away with sexual harassment".

"If a person is bullied at work, the employer can be named publicly and incur a hefty fine,"she said.

But with sexual harassment there was no provision for fines and strict confidentiality was required under equal opportunity laws, she said.

A spokeswoman for Attorney- General Rob Hulls said he was keen to talk to Dr Sisely to ensure the best possible outcome for sexual harassment victims.

Source
Sex pests cost millions
By SUSIE O'BRIEN, industrial reporter
23jun03
https://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/
common/story_page/0,5478,6637171%255E662,00.html

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