Payment to corroborate sexual harassment story

In a blatant attempt to manipulate the course of justice, an employee of Portobello Hotel and Bistro Ltd offered a financial inducement to a colleague to say their manager was guilty of sexual harassment, according to the Employment Relations Authority.

Gwynneth Woodman worked as a waitress for the hotel from November 2004. The business was sold in March 2007, and the son of one of the new owners, Tony Reid, was responsible for kitchen and restaurant management.

Shortly after the new owners took over, Ms Woodman's hours were reduced, and there was then a dispute about whether Ms Woodman had refused to clean the hotel's chillers. Ms Woodman was subsequently told she was not required for two successive shifts, and when she rang to query this, was told she was no longer employed.

The Employment Relations Authority said the adjustment to her hours was a breach of her employment agreement, which required the employer to consult her before reducing hours. She had not refused to comply with an instruction regarding the chillers. She was unjustifiably dismissed when her employer simply told her she was no longer employed, without any sort of process, and the Authority awarded her over $4,000 in lost remuneration.

However, in assessing compensation for humiliation, the Authority took into account evidence from another employee, Ms Gaskill, who said that Ms Woodman had approached her after the dismissal to enlist her support in bringing a sexual harassment claim against Mr Reid. Ms Woodman offered her a financial inducement to do so. Ms Gaskill said that Ms Woodman had claimed that there were team building exercises involving hugging, during which Mr Reid sexually harassed female staff. Ms Woodman also claimed that he had touched women's bra straps in a flirty way.

However, Ms Gaskill said she had not seen anything of the sort, and that Ms Woodman had told her she would "make things up" in relation to the sexual harassment claim, and "the Court would believe anything she says because she is a girl and sexual harassment is such a serious charge", and that Ms Gaskill could get $3,000.

The Authority accepted Ms Gaskill's evidence. It did not say whether Ms Woodman denied the allegations, but if she did, clearly it did not believe her. It reduced Ms Woodman's compensation for humiliation from $5,000 to $1,000 to demonstrate the seriousness of her behaviour in trying to subvert and mislead the Authority's process.

If what Ms Gaskill says is true, then it is indeed a serious matter. In a tragic case profiled by Clive James in this BBC story , a very respected and eminent judge in Australia was recently sentenced to two years' imprisonment for perverting the course of justice and perjury, when he claimed he was not actually driving his car when it was snapped by a speed camera. His story was disproved, and in an attempt to justify the lie, he made up even more lies.

He at least was "only" giving his own false evidence in trying to get off a charge brought by the state. Ms Woodman was trying to persuade another witness to give false evidence in order to get the Authority to find a third party was guilty of sexual harassment.

Some would say she was lucky to get off as lightly as she did.

- Greg Cain