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ARTICLE · 14 OCTOBER 2014

Safeguarding employees from sexual harassment

Holding Redlich
Holding Redlich
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Employers should be taking greater steps to ensure that such unlawful behaviour does not occur in their workplaces.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Matthew Orr
Matthew Orr
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It is widely anticipated that sexual harassment claims against employers will rise in the wake of a recent Federal Court decision. In that case, the court ordered Oracle to pay a former employee $100,000 in damages for injuries of the kind that have previously attracted awards in the range of $12,000 to $20,000.

In Richardson v Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Ltd [2014] FCAFC 82, the Full Court of the Federal Court departed significantly from the generally accepted range of damages for pain and suffering arising from sexual harassment. It held that that range had been fixed at a conservative level for too long, and that the nature and extent of Ms Richardson's injuries and prevailing community standards demanded the court take action.

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