Five swim teachers claim a fellow instructor was able to continue working for months after serious complaints were raised Photo / 123rf
Current and former staff at a council-run pool allege the organisation failed to adequately respond to sexual misconduct complaints against a man who was later arrested on a separate sex charge.
Five swim teachers claim a fellow instructor was able to continue working for months after serious complaints were raised with management about his alleged conduct and several lifeguards say management poorly handled multiple unrelated complaints of a sexual nature.
Several swim instructors say they shared concerns with senior management earlier this year about an instructor who they alleged behaved inappropriately with young teens and said inappropriate things in front of the children they coach. The man, who has interim name suppression, is before the courts on an unrelated sex charge.
The man’s lawyer was approached for comment but declined while the case was before the courts.
Hannah* alleged that last year, while she was a 15-year-old, the man asked her for sex and suggested having a threesome with her and her friend who was also 15.
She said she complained to management at the pool this year after she also began coaching there.
“I kind of just said the gist of what had happened, and how uncomfortable I was with him working with children the same age I was.
She said the council told her it would be taken seriously.
The teenager said she felt “really unsafe during this time as she had confronted him about his behaviour and she felt like he would“ glare at her across the pool.
She claimed the council “turned a blind eye to her allegations against the man because it did not happen in the workplace.
“It’s kind of disgusting honestly, it makes me feel a bit sick that he was able to work for that long.”
His alleged behaviour toward her when she was 15 made her nervous about what could happen to other young people under his guidance.
A council manager told the Herald it rejected suggestions it had not taken complaints about sexual impropriety or related issues involving a former staff member seriously.
“We have followed a robust process around workplace allegations.
The manager said the council took any complaints relating to sexual harassment and bullying by its staff or members of the public extremely seriously.
“This issue goes beyond our workplace.
Sabrina* also complained to the council about the man’s behaviour towards her while she was 17.
She claimed the man made several inappropriate remarks to her and touched her inappropriately on several occasions while driving her home from work.
In a complaint, filed three months before the man stopped working at the pool, she alleged he made jokes to her about the width of his penis, expressed his desire to have sex with her and said he wished someone had filmed her and her ex-boyfriend having sex so he could watch.
“He grabbed my hand and like pulled up his T-shirt and started rubbing my hand down his abs.
At work she said he would makew “unsafe and dirty” comments around the children they coached.
It was more than 50 days after she filed a written complaint that she received an email organising a meeting about the allegations, she said.
“I think it should be two weeks max for HR to get to you, they should be getting to you as quick as possible especially with this kind of situation.”
Throughout this time Sabrina said she “dreaded going into the pool as the man was still working.
“We were just very much not being taken seriously, especially being young girls, we’re vulnerable. This stuff happens day to day outside of work and stuff and just to have it in our job, [it] was just appalling how they dealt with it.
Another instructor, Josie*, said the man made inappropriate comments to her while she was coaching, including allegedly saying, within earshot of children, she should tell them being good at the butterfly stroke “makes you good at sex”.
She alleged the man continued coaching for more than a month after she complained about the comment to the council.
Another worker, Anna*, said she knew his ongoing behaviour toward her was wrong. But it was only when Sabrina told her the man had allegedly placed his hand on her knee while driving her home that she decided to act.
“The reputation of this man is, ‘Don’t get in the car with [him], because he’ll touch you’, Anna claimed.
A copy of Anna’s first complaint shows while she did want to report his behaviour, she did not want to make a formal complaint as she alleged a lifeguard colleague had been “victim blamed after making a sexual misconduct complaint about another colleague.
Anna acted as the woman’s support person and claimed a senior council manager suggested the matter was not the council’s responsibility as the alleged incident happened outside of work.
During a different meeting with the same manager, Josie said she told him she believed that female staff were scared of the instructor accused of misconduct.
Several months after the first complaint was made the women claim an HR investigation was launched, however, they said the instructor resigned from the pool and the inquiry was allegedly dropped.
Anna said management didn’t inform them the man had left and they found out through their union.
Josie believed the time it took the council to address some complaints showed a “lack of respect.
“They think we’re hysterical young women who are trying to find something to get angry about and it’s not something that is important enough to be getting angry about. I think they think we’re dumb and stupid and young.
“A lot of their rhetoric has been, ‘We have to protect him too’.
Key issues from elsewhere in the pool include:
In response to the serious sexual misconduct accusation, a council spokesman told the Herald it would not provide detailed responses as the council did not discuss “confidential employment-related matters”.
The man was approached for comment but did not respond.
“We are obliged to protect the interests and welfare of all parties involved in this issue, including your complainant, given the obvious sensitivities involved and the fact we are required to provide a safe environment not only [for] our staff but the public as well.”
The spokesman said when a serious matter is alleged to have occurred outside of the workplace between staff, it becomes a police matter.
“Our focus then is on keeping all staff involved safe and having oversight of the situation.”
Speaking generally, Dyhrberg Drayton employment law partner Steph Dyhrberg said the fact that police may or may not take action on something is not directly relevant to the employer’s obligations to investigate complaints.
“There are obligations under the Human Rights Act and the Employment Relations Act to actually do something when someone raises allegations of sexual harassment.”
Dyhrberg said only a “tiny proportion” of sexual assault cases are reported to the police, of those only a “minuscule” amount are prosecuted and only the “tiniest tip of the iceberg” will result in a conviction.
“So does that mean that we ignore 99 per cent of allegations of sexual harm?”
* names have been changed to protect identities
Bias, cost and access still limit many girls’ chances to play sport.