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In what legal commentators have described as a 鈥渘ew frontier鈥� in workplace sexual harassment law, a Queensland storage facility worker has been awarded $116,000 in compensation and penalties after the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia found he was subjected to repeated homophobic and sexual harassment by a contractor and a customer at his workplace.

The court heard the worker, employed at a Storage King facility in Queensland, was subjected to months of abuse including homophobic slurs, being referred to as 鈥渢he gay boy鈥� and 鈥減oof鈥� among more explicit remarks, repeated comments questioning his sexuality, sexually explicit remarks about his body and behaviour, and incidents of physical intimidation, including being shoved, bumped and crowded while working.

Judge Salvatore Vasta described the conduct as 鈥渁 very serious example of sexual harassment at work鈥� and said it was 鈥渞epeated, deliberate and humiliating鈥�. He found the behaviour 鈥渨ent well beyond mere workplace banter鈥� and created 鈥渁n intimidating, hostile and offensive workplace environment鈥�.

The court heard the worker reported the conduct to his employer and provided recordings of some interactions. He later alleged his complaints were not adequately addressed and that he subsequently lost his job.

In his judgment, Judge Vasta said protections against sexual harassment extended beyond direct employees, stating: 鈥淭he prohibition on sexual harassment is not confined to fellow employees,鈥� and that the Fair Work Act applied to 鈥渃ustomers, contractors and other persons connected with the workplace鈥�.

Vasta said聽 aimed at stamping out sexual harassment in connection with work covered all types of perpetrators. The identity of the perpetrator 鈥渞eally does not matter鈥�.

The Fair Work Act would protect a waitress harassed by a patron at a restaurant, Vasta said, 鈥渂ecause the waitress would be a worker and the harassment occurred in connection with her being a worker鈥�.

The court ordered contractor Jacob Marshall and customer Troy Mitchell to jointly pay $90,000 in compensation, along with separate civil penalties of $13,000 each. Neither respondent participated in the proceedings.

Senior employment lawyer Yuva Harish, acting principal solicitor of Sydney鈥檚 Inner City Legal Centre, told the that the decision was an exciting development in a 鈥渓argely untested鈥� area of the law.

鈥淭his kind of behaviour should have left the workplace decades ago and was never appropriate,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t shines a light onto modern-day workplaces and the experiences of young and queer workers.鈥�