Electrician fined $15K for bullying and sexual harassment

In Victoria, the sole director of an electrical contracting company has been convicted and fined $15,000 for appalling behaviour towards a young female apprentice.

The court heard that between September 2022 and April 2023, the 33-year-old Frankston South man engaged in repeated acts of bullying, sexual harassment and gendered violence.

In addition to the fine, the court ordered the man to pay $3000 in costs and issued an adverse publicity order requiring him to publicise the offence, its consequences and the penalty imposed in two industry publications.

He has also written a letter of apology to the victim.

The company director’s inappropriate behaviour towards the apprentice included making repeated suggestive comments and gestures towards her of a personal or sexual nature; grabbing her clothes and speaking to her in an aggressive and threatening manner; and sending her abusive, aggressive and intimidating text messages.

Other acts included:

• commenting that she had no strength because she was female;
• touching her leg while seated in a work vehicle;
• rubbing her hair, after she had repeatedly asked him not to do so;
• licking her eating utensils and taking bites of her food;
• drinking from, licking and spitting into her water bottle;
• deliberately bumping into her shoulder and slamming tools near her;
• deliberately mispronouncing her middle name; and
• making derogatory remarks about her partner.
   

An investigation by WorkSafe Victoria found that there were no policies or procedures at the workplace for reporting, investigating and stopping inappropriate behaviours.

The apprentice had no option but to take her own initiative, raising complaints with the assistance of a support person. Despite this, the director’s inappropriate behaviour continued until the apprentice eventually resigned.

The court found it was reasonably practicable for the director to have reduced the risk of psychological injury by not bullying, sexually harassing or directing work-related gendered violence at the apprentice.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin described the offending as a grotesque breach of trust and the standards expected of those who employ apprentices.

“All workers, especially young workers who are just finding their way in the workforce, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by their employer and colleagues,” Jenkin said.

“This is simply unacceptable behaviour from anyone, but appalling from a company director who was in a clear position of power, and I applaud the courage of this apprentice in speaking out.”

WorkSafe recommends employers carry out the following procedures to prevent workplace bullying and harassment:

• Set clear standards of which behaviours are allowed and which are not in your workplace through training and leaders role-modelling desired behaviours.
• Have policies and procedures to guide a consistent approach to prevent, respond and report workplace bullying and harassment. Discuss and promote these in team meetings and health and safety committee meetings.
• Encourage reporting. It is important for those who experience or witness workplace bullying or harassment to know who they can talk to, that a report will be taken seriously and that confidentiality will be maintained.
• Ensure that information about workplace bullying and harassment, including relevant policies and procedures, is part of supervisor training and new employee inductions.
• Carry out a regular check of the workplace in consultation with employees and health and safety representatives to identify hazards and risks such as signs that bullying or harassment is happening or if there is an increased risk of it happening.
   

Image credit: iStock.com/DNY59