Australian sex-pest case to dampen office Christmas parties

Oct 20, 2010, 8:11 GMT

Sydney - Australia's traditionally uproarious office Christmas parties are likely to be tamer this festive season after a sexual harassment case set a new benchmark for payments, a Sydney law firm said Wednesday.

'Sexual harassment in the workplace is inexcusable but the unspoken fear now is that opportunistic claims may be made by young staff egged on by a precedent-setting payout beyond their wildest dreams,' Bennett and Philp lawyer Mark O'Connor said.

He was commenting on this week's out-of-court settlement in which 27-year-old Kristy Fraser-Kirk won 850,000 Australian dollars (830,000 US dollars)

She had asked upmarket department store chain David Jones Ltd for compensation of 37 million Australian dollars after being propositioned by her boss at company functions.

Fraser-Kirk, who is still an employee, won the country's biggest ever settlement in a sexual harassment claim after Mark McInnes, 45, admitted 'unbecoming behaviour' towards her. He resigned as chief executive in atonement.

O'Connor said companies were likely to opt for restaurant functions that finished early rather than boozy office shindigs that went on all night.

'If everyone behaved themselves there would be no need for it, but the sad fact is that when you have that combination of Christmas cheer, maybe more drinks than normal ... things can happen that in the cold light of day you would regret,' he told Australia's AAP news agency.

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