By MATHEW DEARNALEY
A confessed bottom squeezer working for the Courts Department has been awarded more than $36,000 in costs for successfully challenging an investigation into his conduct.
The man, a former soldier whose name is suppressed, admitted to the Employment Court that he squeezed the bottom of a uniformed servicewoman who was once his subordinate in the Army when he met her again last year at a seminar.
"On approaching the complainant I squeezed her bottom in a lighthearted attempt at greeting and humour and said, 'Hi'.
"She replied, 'Hi there' or something like that, but otherwise ignored what I had done, which made me instantly regret it and believe it was very foolish."
The Courts Department began an investigation after receiving a complaint from the woman, backed by a letter from Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson.
An investigation report accepted the incident did not fit the legal definition of sexual harassment, as it did not involve another employee or client of the employer.
But the investigation extended to three similar incidents, one involving the servicewoman while the man was still in the Army, and the others a female department employee, whose bottom he was alleged to have smacked as she bent over a head office reception desk.
Department human resources manager June Dallinger recommended that he be sacked for "a concerning pattern of conduct", but Judge Coral Shaw overruled this advice in an earlier Employment Court decision as being based on a flawed investigation. She said this was because the department was alerted to the previous incidents soon after they occurred, but took no action then so could not resurrect them in hindsight.
The department is waiting for a Court of Appeal hearing to challenge the decision, but Judge Shaw has meanwhile issued a supplementary decision ordering it to pay the man costs of $34,980 and expenses of $1795.
Despite a suggestion by the department that the man's costs bill of $53,000 was inflated unnecessarily by the complexity of his statement of claim, the judge said this was reasonably incurred. She said the case was very important to both parties.
"The plaintiff's employment and reputation is at stake and the defendants are concerned to address harassment in the workplace in appropriate ways."
Ms Dallinger and a colleague who helped her with the investigation, Fiona Fitzpatrick, were named as second defendants. The department was first defendant.
Court awards 'bottom squeezer' $36,000 in costs
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