More than 40% of women experience workplace sexual harassment, yet only 18% make a formal complaint due to the significant personal and structural barriers to reporting.
Clara was a young girl with autism and learning difficulties. She had started her first job as a kitchen hand at a catering business, working permanent part time.
The much older head chef sexually harassed Clara at work. When Clara complained to the business, little action was taken. Instead she was treated unfavourably by her colleagues and told she should change her shifts to avoid him. The business made her casual then stopped her shifts altogether, and Clara was forced to find alternative employment.
Clara came to Caxton unsure if she had any claim and not confident to pursue legal action. She felt that she would be unable to draft anything due to her learning disability and felt quite disenfranchised by the entire experience.
Caxton was able to help Clara understand her legal rights and what is meant by discrimination and sexual harassment. Using a multidisciplinary approach, a lawyer and social worker worked with Clara to build her confidence and draft a Queensland Human Rights Commission claim with her, outlining the sexual harassment and discrimination.
The claim was filed and a conciliation date was set down. Due to the trauma she had suffered, Clara felt unable to attend the conciliation and face her perpetrator.
The lawyer requested a telephone conciliation conference and started negotiations with the respondent’s solicitor to try and settle the matter ahead of conciliation. The social worker kept in touch with Clara to monitor how she was coping and provided emotional support throughout the matter.
Caxton was able to negotiate a very significant settlement before conciliation, which allowed Clara to avoid seeing her perpetrator and the risk of exacerbating her psychological injury. The settlement funds enabled Clara to get the medical assistance she needed and set herself up for a decent quality of life. The social worker linked her with a financial counsellor to help her manage the funds and plan to future proof her spending
Privacy Notice: The names, identifying details and photographs used throughout this material have been changed or substituted with stock imagery to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our clients. The scenarios, outcomes and insights presented are based on real engagements but have been modified to ensure anonymity. Any resemblance to specific individuals or businesses is unintentional.
