Two recent cases have sign posted some potential significant new directions in sexual harassment and discrimination that may significantly increase the risks for employers faced with harassment claims.
The case most recently grabbing headlines involved a South Australian property sales company being ordered to pay a female consultant $466,000 in damages, plus costs.
Significantly, the Federal Court ordered the company to pay $90,000 in damages for pain and suffering. This is much higher than the amounts commonly awarded for pain and suffering in sexual harassment cases.
The second case was a sexual harassment claim in which the Bunnings hardware chain was ordered to pay $132,818 to cover a complainant's legal costs, despite her only being awarded $23,000 in damages.
Not only is the scale of costs awarded significant, but more importantly the cost payment was ordered despite the employer making settlement offers before the trial at about the same amount, or better, than the $23,000 eventually awarded to the complainant. In effect, the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal made Bunnings pay the entirety of the complainant's legal costs to punish it for forcing the matter to go to trial resulting in a process that cost over $200,000 in legal fees, rather than apologising and settling her complaint for a fraction of that amount.
These decisions must make all employers think long and hard before deciding to defend, all the way to trial, claims of sexual harassment.
