A former Cricket Tasmania employee who was at the centre of a sexting scandal with former Australian test cricket captain Tim Paine has had her case dismissed in the federal court.
Justice Mordy Bromberg refused to grant Renee Ferguson, 47, an extension of time to make her application due to almost three years passing.
She had been seeking about $1 million in compensation from Cricket Tasmania, alleging she had been sexually harassed by staff, not including Paine, while working as a receptionist from 2015 to 2017.
Ms Ferguson had 60 days to lodge her claim after it was terminated in the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in November 2019, but 151 weeks have passed.
In his judgement, Justice Bromberg said the length of time would unfairly prejudice Cricket Tasmania and the people involved.
"The length of Ms Ferguson's delay tends very significantly against the grant of an extension of time. The delay of some 34 months equates to about 17 times the 60-day period," he said.
The court was not required to determine whether Ms Ferguson's case had merit or not.
"I seek to emphasise that my decision is not a vindication of either Ms Ferguson or TCA's version of events or not," he said.
Case attracted attention after Paine resigned in 2021
Ms Ferguson alleged that while she was an employee of Cricket Tasmania she was subjected to inappropriate sexual comments and text messages, and received pictures of two coworkers' penises.
Cricket Tasmania denied the allegations and claimed that Ms Ferguson made no complaints while working at the organisation, which she disputed. Three of the four people mentioned in her claim also denied the allegations.
Justice Bromberg described the allegations as "strongly contested", but that some of the evidence relied upon by Ms Ferguson may have been "compelling".
But the amount of time that had passed proved to be a crucial factor.
Ms Ferguson argued the delay was due to her attempts at resolution with Cricket Australia – not Cricket Tasmania – in 2018 and 2019. The court found this accounted for a week or two of the 151-week delay.
Ms Ferguson also argued that Cricket Tasmania did not engage in conciliation during the AHRC stage, but that did not address the delay.
She claimed her deteriorating mental health was a factor in the amount of time that had passed, but this was also dismissed as a reason.
The case attracted extensive public attention, and Paine resigned as Test captain in November 2021 when details of their conversations were published in the media.
Justice Bromberg said it had been a difficult time for all involved.
"It is simply a fact of life that disputation is not a victimless sport and that the guilty as well as the innocent usually walk away somewhat bloodied by the experience," he said.
"However, that reality is part of the reason why the law generally insists upon litigation being brought and resolved in a timely manner.
"The longer accusations are left to stew unresolved the longer it is that the accused will suffer."
Paine has since returned to first-class cricket with Tasmania, and released a book this week detailing various aspects of his career.
