She complained of harassment, then her boss accused her of theft

Fiona Taylor joined Grew & Co, a small Sydney fine-jewellery business, in January 2018 and became its production manager. She shared an office with the owner and sole director, Simon Grew, reported directly to him, and felt she had found her dream job. There was no human resources person: any problem had to be raised with Mr Grew.

In January 2020 he told her he had developed feelings for her. She said she did not feel the same way, and before a work trip she wrote to him to set boundaries. In June 2020, after driving her home, he raised it again; on her account, he asked whether they were “going to become something”. The next morning she had to pull off the road, crying uncontrollably. By August she had stopped going to work.

Through her lawyers she complained of sexual harassment, then complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission. His lawyers’ letters, sent while she was still an employee on leave, demanded jewellery and other items back as company property and called her claim frivolous and vexatious. His reply to that complaint accused her of theft and said he would go to the police if the items were not returned.

Justice Katzmann found that Mr Grew’s many gifts were not sexual harassment, as a reasonable person would not have expected them to offend her. But unwanted physical contact in July 2019, the January declaration and the June conversation were. He “was not respectful of boundaries”, and he knew he held power over her. The accusation of theft and the threat of police were “a vindictive act”, taken largely in retribution for her complaint. That was unlawful victimisation.

She was awarded $140,000 for the harassment, $40,000 for the victimisation and $15,000 in aggravated damages for the intimidating response, plus lost earnings, superannuation and treatment costs. She resigned in 2022 and found work with a jeweller in Queensland.