The Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ) is facing a lawsuit for allegedly threatening to fire an employee after she complained about sexual harassment from a senior executive, as reported by the Australian Financial Review.
The employee, who works as a "people-experience specialist," claims that she was kissed without consent by the executive at a drinks event after the company's Christmas Party in December 2023. An external investigation was launched after the employee filed a formal complaint several weeks later, which upheld the complaint. The executive was issued a formal warning.
However, shortly thereafter, CA ANZ also launched an investigation into the employee for organizing an "unauthorised drinks" and for "wilfully and deliberately" undermining directions from management not to do so. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the employee was issued a "first and final warning," stripped of her events responsibility, and told that CA ANZ had the grounds to terminate her employment. A subsequent review upheld the process but reduced her sanction to a "formal warning," the same sanction received by the executive who was found to have harassed her.
CA ANZ, which is responsible for setting professional standards for the accounting sector, has argued that it took all "reasonable steps" to prevent the misconduct and is, therefore, not liable. The organization "takes its responsibilities as an employer seriously and has strong policies in place to support a safe workplace for all our people," a spokesperson told the AFR.
"Instead of accepting responsibility, the organisation has elected to hide behind its policies and point the finger at [the employee], inflicting blame and disciplinary action upon her," said Maurice Blackburn lawyer Mia Pantechis, who represents the employee. “Responding to sexual harassment in this way is entirely at odds with the positive duty to prevent sexual harassment and obligations to maintain a safe workplace.”
On a related note, early last year, CA ANZ announced that it would require members to pledge annually to behave with integrity and competence in an effort to restore trust in the sector.
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