Record payout in sex harassment case

IN ITS 55-year history, the Hickinbotham Group has built 20,000 South Australian homes, helped English migrants resettle and built schools and facilities for disabled children.

For a group that prides itself on sticking up for the underdog, yesterday was Hickinbotham`s darkest hour, The Advertiser reports.

Its reputation as a pillar of the South Australian community took a battering when a Federal Court judge ruled one of its female workers was sexually harassed, then unfairly sacked after she complained.

In a state-record compensation payout, former sales consultant Malgorzata Poniatowska was yesterday awarded $466,000 for sexual harassment in 2005 and unfair dismissal in 2006.

The 42-year-old`s complaints about lurid emails and text messages from two male colleagues were not properly addressed and the company then set about a campaign to "white–ant" her before sacking her, the court found.

Justice John Mansfield found Hickinbotham had been dishonest in its reasons for sacking Ms Poniatowska in early 2006, when it claimed she was dismissed for poor work performance after three warning letters.

"Put bluntly, I find that none of those warning letters, or the suspension or termination of her employment were for her poor work performance . . . I find that there was a different, but consistent, motivation for those communications," Justice Mansfield found.

Justice Mansfield accepted Ms Poniatowska`s evidence she was being "white–anted" because she had made claims of sexual harassment against fellow sales consultants Remo Lotito and Mark Flynn.

"Ms Poniatowska was not treated as the victim of sexual harassment, but as a problem to be dealt with," he found.

Outside court, Ms Poniatowska said her case was a victory for sexually harassed workers.

"I am very happy, not only for myself but for all people who have been harassed in the workplace and I would strongly recommend to them to stand up for their rights," she said.

Justice Mansfield`s ruling followed a 16-day trial last year in which Ms Poniatowska outlined a number of allegations of sexual harassment. He rejected Ms Poniatowska`s account of being kissed "forcefully" on the lips at a September 2005 party by Hickinbotham Group managing director Michael Hickinbotham and accepted Mr Hickinbotham`s evidence that no such event happened, saying any contact was "incidental" and misinterpreted by Ms Poniatowska.

He also rejected a claim that company founder and former South Adelaide and Geelong footballer Alan Hickinbotham had harassed Ms Poniatowska by saying she had "two good assets" while staring at her breasts.

However, he found Mr Lotito and Mr Flynn had repeatedly harassed Ms Poniatowska by pestering her for sex through a series of calls, emails and text messages.

When she complained, Ms Poniatowska was told by team leader and sales manager Roz Sharrard: "What do you expect with a face like yours?" The findings were a bitter pill to swallow for the Hickinbotham Group of companies. Mr Michael Hickinbotham yesterday issued a written statement saying the group had fought the case because it was "the right thing to do" and planned to appeal against the "extremely disappointing" judgment.

Mr Hickinbotham – who is also a member of the state`s Economic Development Board – said he was pleased that Justice Mansfield had rejected allegations of sexual harassment against him and his father.

Justice Mansfield also ordered Hickinbotham to pay Ms Ponia-towska`s legal costs, which legal sources estimate at more than $1 million.

Her lawyer Peter Humphries said he believed the compensation payout was the second-highest awarded in an Australian sexual harassment case, behind a $492,000 payout to a NSW woman who was raped while working.