ZDNet reports that a former project manager in Australia sued the company for sexual harassment by a sales representative who she had to work with, who allegedly made comments to her which progressed from suggesting that the two of them were married in a previous life, to harassing her for not going to a party with him and not going on a date with him, through telling her how "hot [she] would be in bed." Her complaints went unaddressed and she quit.    

The Federal Court of Australia found the company liable for sexual harassment, has ordered it to pay AU$18,000 in damages, and stated that the sales rep’s actions were "persistent and ultimately callous," and that the company did not take all reasonable steps to prevent it.

The kicker of this story is that even a large and sophisticated company waited until the loss of this lawsuit before it began to conduct workplace diversity training policy for all staff.

If only they read our blog and paid attention to instituting and implementing appropriate employment policies and practices.