A lawyer who won a sexual harassment case against her former boss has spoken out for the first time, saying she owed it to her children to take a stand.
Catherine Hill was awarded $170,000 in damages after pursuing a case against Owen Hughes, the head of a tiny law firm in northern New South Wales."If I did nothing, it could happen again. I just felt like I needed to just say, well, this isn't really acceptable," she"Not just for me, but for other women and, possibly, children that are growing up — my children as well, I think I owed it to them.
The lawyer who represented Ms Hill says her case shows there is still "work to do" to tackle sexual harassment in the legal profession, which is still reeling from And he warns the type of power imbalance seen in her case will become more prevalent because of the COVID-19 pandemic.In April 2015, Ms Hill was admitted to legal practice after several years of studying law part-time.
The next month she landed a job with Beasley and Hughes, in the small town of Bangalow in northern NSW."I started working as a paralegal but my employer then suggested that he would undertake my supervision, because you need two years of supervision as a solicitor."
Fortunately the victim has been able to continue with her career, albeit overseas. How many women have we, and I mean we, lost because of men who believe junior women must sleep their way to the top?
Good on her for taking a stand. Follow this example.
Shocking! Was this in the Aboriginal community? Or the European community such as the Armenian Australian NSW Premier Berejiklian? Or the Asian community such as the Chinese Australian Mathematician Eddie Woo? Do tell!
She's only good for a poke.