Two complaints about different conduct can run side by side

Annemarie Clarke Chesaites came to Australia from the United Kingdom in October 2023 and went to work for Sentinel Community Services, an aged care and disability support provider in Taree, New South Wales. By March 2024 she was managing a supported independent living service. Her employment, from November 2023 until she was dismissed in June 2025, involved complaints in both directions.

She complained of bullying and of sexual harassment by colleagues: unwanted weekly invitations to drinks, comments about her appearance, rumours and repeated staring. The employer investigated and found her complaints unsubstantiated. Colleagues complained about her too, and the employer dismissed her for gross misconduct. The Commission has not decided any of these allegations, on either side.

In December 2025 she asked the Fair Work Commission to deal with a sexual harassment dispute about four former colleagues. She also complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission of race, sex and age discrimination. The employer asked the Commission to throw out the Fair Work application. It said the law stops a person pursuing the same conduct in both places, called this “forum-shopping”, and argued there was no point anyway because the Commission cannot award damages.

Deputy President Slevin disagreed. The bar in s 734B of the Fair Work Act turns on the particular conduct complained of. Her Human Rights Commission form did not tick the boxes for sexual harassment, and the conduct described in each complaint was different, so the bar did not apply. Nor was the application pointless: the Commission’s role is to try to resolve the dispute and, if that fails, to issue a certificate that opens the way to court or, if both sides agree, to arbitration. The employer’s view that her claim lacked merit was a matter for the conference.