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A barrister working out of a boutique criminal law firm in Perth was accused of sexual harassment by a law clerk 40 years his junior.
Barrister and solicitor Jeremy Scudds allegedly sexually harassed a law clerk and subjected her to a hostile work environment between September 2023 and February 2024, according to a statement of claim filed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
The clerk, represented by Clayton Utz, claimed she was subjected to sexual harassment from the job interview, with Scudds allegedly having said words to the effect of, “you can’t be emotional, I need you to not be emotional if I am hiring a woman”.
Scudds also allegedly made two references to his wife by telling the clerk she does “not put on weight” like her and commenting that she appeared “taller” after having her put on his wife’s court robes.
The night before the clerk resigned in early February 2024, she claimed Scudds told her good lawyers “need to act out the case” before he allegedly pressed himself against her from behind “and reached his arms around her and across her breasts”.
After letting her go, Scudds allegedly looked down at the clerk’s crotch and told her that her fly was undone.
The clerk said the alleged sexual harassment made her feel “offended, intimidated and humiliated”.
In addition to declarations that Scudds sexually harassed her and created a hostile working environment, the clerk has sought a declaration Porter Scudds was vicariously liable for his behaviour.
She has also sought damages and costs.
Scudds and the firm, represented by Tindall Gask Bentley Lawyers, have denied the allegations.
In its defence, the firm said that on the day Scudds was said to have allegedly pressed himself against the clerk, both he and part-owner Sutherlan Scudds had met with her to discuss “concerns in relation to her quality of work and attitude at work”.
The meeting ended when the clerk became upset, they claimed.
Scudds and the firm also submitted that two weeks prior to the clerk filing a complaint with the police, Scudds had declined to give a job reference. They added that “no charges have been preferred” by police.
A mediation has been scheduled for early August.
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Harassment is defined as persistent behaviour or acts that intimidate, threaten, or uncomfortably affect other employees at work. Because of anti-discrimination laws and the Fair Work Act of 2009, harassment in Australia is prohibited on the basis of protected characteristics.
