Gillian Franklin’s Heat Group wins costs against sexual harassment claimant, urges businesses to fight to defend staff

Heat Group founder Gillian Franklin says businesses that simply look to pay money to make harassment claims go away should stand up for staff who have been the subject of malicious claims, after winning what should be the final round in her battle with former staff member Jo-Anne Finch.

On Friday, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered Finch to pay two-thirds of Heat Group’s costs in defending her claim.

Judge Marilyn Harbison, who dismissed Finch’s claims of sexual discrimination and harassment in June last year, found that the poor wording of Finch’s claims and the fact she did not seem to have read any of the relevant material turned what should have been a five day trial into a 20-day trial, and made it difficult for Heat Group to organise its pre-trial defence.

“In my estimation, the complainant was a most unsatisfactory witness with a disregard for the truth,” Harbison said in her latest judgement.

“Further, none of the five versions of her statement of complaint were in any way satisfactory. Even the final version was incomprehensible in part, and appeared to bear little relationship to the material contained in the witness statements filed by the complainant, or her evidence at trial.”

Franklin told SmartCompany she now hopes the matter is closed, although the Heat Group will also need to pursue Finch to recover costs.

Franklin said that many business colleagues and mentors had advised her to settle the claim quickly and she admits the cost was threefold – legal bills, the cost of the distraction for the business, and the emotional cost for her team.

But Franklin felt the allegations against her key executives had to be defended thoroughly to send a message to staff and the business community.

“This matter has been going on for four years and has put so many of our people under severe pressure. But I felt it was my responsibility to defend the reputation of my people – that is really what gave me my energy and my drive to defend it.”

Franklin says news of the latest decision has been well received among her team.

“I could just see people’s shoulders go back and their heads held high. And you can’t put a price on that.”