Pregnancy Discrimination and JBWere
Thursday 25 September 2014 @ 12.29 p.m. | Industrial Law | Legal Research
In a case heard in the Federal Court last Tuesday (23 September 2014), a former executive of JBWere has filed a $4.5 million sexual harassment case against the NAB-owned stockbroking firm, claiming she was the victim of a “culture of harassment” after taking maternity leave.
Background to the Case
Thornton is suing NAB, JBWere's owner, in the Federal Court for $4.3 million in compensation for what she claims was discrimination based on her sex, pregnancy and decision to take maternity leave. The mother of two alleges that she was undermined by male colleagues who attempted to steal her clients and failed to credit her work and was harassed on the basis of her pregnancies and maternity leave.
The basis of Thornton's claim is that she was forced to resign from the financial advisory firm in July this year due to ongoing discrimination during and after her pregnancy and maternity leave. Thornton said she was performance managed out of the organisation, was given higher targets and lower bonuses than her colleagues and was subject to derogatory remarks by former JBWere chief executive Paul Heath.
On one occasion Thornton says Heath, whose own claim for redundancy compensation was rejected by the Fair Work Commission in July, responded to news of her first pregnancy by saying “in his experience a woman’s IQ halves when she falls pregnant”. On another occasion Thornton alleges Heath asked her to turn around while she was pregnant and said: “Yup, you are having a boy because your bum has blown out.”
Thornton says another colleague Steve Martino told her he was “pissed off, frustrated” and no longer wanted to share clients when she told him she would be going on maternity leave after the birth of her second child, but the head of human resources for JBWere allegedly told her not to make a complaint about Martino’s comments. Thornton also claims her client base was reduced by a third when she returned to work in July last year and was asked on more than one occasion: “Do you really want to come back to work?”
Continuing Case in Court
NAB denies the allegations and a spokesperson said the company will "vigorously defend the matter". On Tuesday Justice Geoffrey Flick referred the matter to mediation but warned JBWere: "There is a significant public interest in this case," and that it's "not a matter you can just buy your way out of".
Reaction from the Media and Public
Reactions to Thornton's claims have been mixed. As in all sexual harassment and discrimination cases, like that of Kirsty Fraser-Kirk, the publicist who sued David Jones and its then-CEO Mark McInnes for $37 million, Thornton has already been branded a vexatious litigant.
While vexatious litigants do exist, it is important to remember the damning statistics in the latest national review: Pregnancy and Return to Work. In this review, the Australian Human Rights Commission states that one in two mothers and one in four fathers experience discrimination upon returning to work from parental or pregnancy related leave. And 91% per cent of mothers who experience discrimination do not make a formal complaint (either within their organisation or to a government agency).
So, this issue is very real and the media and the public will be watching keenly when the Thornton case returns to the Federal Court in November.
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