Victoria’s fire service is attempting to strike out large parts of a sexual harassment and assault claim launched by one of its highest-ranking female fighters on the basis of the time she took to come forward with the complaints.
Last year commander Donna Wheatley – one of the first women to reach the senior rank within Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) – went public with allegations of harassment and gender discrimination across her 20-year career.
Among the allegations that form part of her legal claim were that she had her breasts and bottom groped; was told by a commander she would be harassed and it was “just how it will be”; and had a senior officer expose his genitals to her.
Wheatley alleges that complaints she made to senior officers were not acted on and she was warned by a senior commander against speaking up, according to her statement of claim.
Wheatley is pursuing FRV for damages.
FRV has argued in the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal that the claims of alleged unlawful conduct before 2015 should be struck out due to the delay in coming forward. It said it would create “significant prejudice” for the service in responding to the historical allegations and compromises its ability to respond to the complaints due to weakened memory over time.
It has also argued the “unavailability” of witnesses is a hindrance, with a number of former employees unavailable to the service and current employees unwilling to cooperate with the service.
The arguments have been disputed by Wheatley’s lawyer – the Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Josh Bornstein, who said 87% of the witnesses referred to in the complaint were current employees who could be accessed by the service.
Regarding the claims about delay, Bornstein said “no meaningful prejudice” had arisen from the time period.
Wheatley, whose allegations were first reported by the Age, is currently on workers’ compensation leave, having been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2016.
“It accumulated over the years and got to a critical point in 2016,” she told Guardian Australia.
“With this drawn-out litigation it means I’m stuck in that open-wound phase and not able to really move forward.
“I tolerated it for longer than I might have if there was another employer and I will never have that level of career again. I invested in it for 20 years and I worked my guts out every day.”
Fire Rescue Victoria was established in 2020 and absorbed the Metropolitan fire brigade. The workforce is male-dominated, with women making up less than 5% of the workforce.
Bornstein, who has extensive experience in sexual harassment claims, said there were many reasons why women delayed coming forward in cases of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
“One is that their career will be ended or damaged,” he said.
A Fire Rescue Victoria spokesperson said it was committed to providing an “inclusive, safe and respectful workplace that is free from discrimination, vilification, bullying, harassment and victimisation”.
“All employees are expected to adhere to workplace behaviour legislation, the values enshrined in the Code of Conduct for Public Sector Employees and FRV’s organisational values and workplace behaviour policies and procedures,” the spokesperson said.
