Credibility and Character
In their coverage of Fraser-Kirk, the Herald and Telegraph used similar criteria as the Courts (described in the Introduction above) in assessing her credibility. In both the “flattened” and “melodramatic” articles, her identity, history and behaviour were scrutinised and evaluated.
At first glance, Fraser-Kirk appeared to fit the stereotype of the credible complainant in the Court discussed above. She was almost twenty years younger than her alleged harasser, and in a clearly subordinate position in the workplace hierarchy. She made a prompt, very vocal complaint of harassment. Her statement of claim documented the allegations of harassment with precision. This was certainly the picture of Fraser-Kirk that her public relations and legal team attempted to paint, when she addressed the media on 2 August 2010. Looking scared but brave, accompanied by her parents and boyfriend, she said, “I'm a young woman standing here today simply because I said it wasn’t OK, because I said that this should never happen to anyone”.[425]Many of the articles did refer to Fraser-Kirk’s relative youth. Thirteen Herald articles and eight Telegraph articles reported her age. In contrast, there appeared to be less interest in the age of McInnes, which was only reported in three Herald articles and one Telegraph article.
This interest in the age of the complainant was also apparent in the other cases in our sample. While Styles’ age was not specifically mentioned in the media coverage, the two Sydney Morning Herald articles made a point of characterising her as a “young lawyer”[426] when reporting on her complaint against Clayton Utz.
As with Fraser-Kirk, there was a high level of scrutiny of her behaviour in some of the coverage. For instance, in The Telegraph:
When she told Mr Izzo how she felt about the photos at an after-work drinks session at Sydney’s Ryan’s Bar, Mr Izzo reported to the law firm management that he believed she was using the threat of a harassment claim as a bargaining chip with management.
Just weeks after she joined the prestigious firm, Mr Izzo alleges Ms Styles accused him of “spading other girls”, “looking for his next victim” and “being such a slut”.[427]In her choice of quotations, the journalist appears to make connections between Ms Styles’ workplace rotations as a graduate solicitor and her complaint of sexual harassment, with some implications for her credibility as a complainant:
They dated for three weeks before she joined the firm, but the couple agreed to end their relationship once Ms Styles began work. She said shortly after she began a rotation with the company’s workplace relations department — which advises large companies and government on claims of unfair treatment by employees — she felt harassed.[428]
The last line of the article can be read as a parting shot at the complainant, her credibility and her work performance: “Ms Styles was sacked in December 2008. She is seeking at least $200,000 in damages”.[429]
Indeed, analysis of reportage on these five cases shows that language may be used to paint a picture of incredibility. In a Herald Sun article on the IBM case, the reporter suggested that the complainant may be an archetypal incredible woman through repeated use of the word “allegedly”. The complainant’s legal representative is also mentioned as labelling her client’s complaint as an allegation:
Maurice Blackburn lawyer Siobhan Keating said the allegations included that a male colleague had rubbed himself against the woman and that he made comments such as, “if you get your breasts out, you will get more sales”.[430]
The article went on, “He had also allegedly made sexual remarks in front of her during Christmas events, and had allegedly repeatedly placed his hand on her leg and up her dress several times at an evening function... He also allegedly bullied her...”[431]
The Daily Telegraph gets the award for biggest turnaround in its Clayton Utz coverage.
As we discussed earlier, its first article on the case was a miniscule “news in brief” item called “Lawyer’s Job Fears”. Then a few weeks later, it was a profile on the “man in the middle” of the allegations, and a blistering attack on the complainant’s credibility.Reportage on the Rivers matter showed that mental health issues could be a double-edged sword for complainant credibility, and presented competing pictures of an hysterical, incredible woman and an injured victim of “real” sexual harassment. Coverage of the Rivers case focused on the complainant, Robinson’s mental health and the respondent Philip Goodman’s wealth. An article in The Age included a description of the latter’s lavish lifestyle:
Goodman has made a fortune from a national chain of more than 150 Rivers stores. He owns two adjoining mansions in an exclusive Toorak court, where he keeps a fleet of prestige cars including a baby-blue Bentley and a red Ferrari California.[432]
Tabloid and broadsheet coverage alike devoted significant column space to the respondent, and defence attacks on the complainant’s credibility. One Herald Sun article opened with a focus on Goodman and his wealth:
A top retail tycoon has been accused of sexual harassment against a female worker, allegedly getting her to model underwear for him and spy on a business rival. Millionaire Philip Harry Goodman, 54, is the sole director of the Rivers Australia chain, which has 50 stores across Victoria.[433]
The remainder of the article devoted equal space to the complainant and respondent’s respective cases, noting that the complainant, “claims in court documents that Mr Goodman:
• PATTED her on the bottom and grabbed her breast
• REQUIRED her to model underwear for him in private, during which time she claims he placed his hands over and under her bra.
• TOLD her to pretend to be his wife or girlfriend during product sample purchases and called her “honey bun”.
• OFFERED her gifts and insisted she call in sick so they could go to lunch.
• REQUIRED her to wear glasses fitted with cameras to covertly photograph products and displays of a competitor”.[434]
Then the defence’s case was outlined:
In a defence document responding to Ms Robinson's claims, Mr Goodman and Rivers allege she has a history of bipolar behaviour, and that she suffered a range of ailments and conditions during her time with Rivers, including alcohol abuse — a claim she denies. They said Ms Robinson at no time modelled underwear or was naked — but that she insisted on trying on underwear samples in front of Mr Goodman. They claim it was part of her duties as accessories product developer, charged with building the women’s underwear range, that she try on samples. Mr Goodman denied touching Ms Robinson’s breasts or bottom. Rivers claims in the course of her job, he and Ms Robinson went to shops to assess clothes, and he would have told her that if she was approached by sales staff, she should adopt the role of being a couple. Rivers and Mr Goodman admitted getting her to covertly photograph a competitor’s goods but said that was not victimisation.[435]
These kinds of attacks on the complainant’s credibility were also reported extensively by The Age:
[The defence] claimed the Rivers employee did “nudie runs after having drunk too much alcohol” and “got so wasted on occasions at the end of a night out that she can't walk”. Max Legal lawyer Terry McHugh slammed the personal attacks on his client.[436]
The complainant’s mental health was also used by her own legal representatives in the media — albeit to present her sexual harassment claims as credible:
Ms Robinson, now of Queensland, who claims she has suffered post- traumatic stress disorder, depression and panic attacks, declined to comment. Her lawyers say she is “attempting to re-establish her career”.[437]
The limited reportage of the Patrick Stevedore complaint is markedly dissimilar to the other four with no aspersions or hints of victim incredibility.
The portrayal of Britt, who described her workplace as a toxic environment, was quite sympathetic and focused on the details of the sexual harassment:Carole-Ann Britt claims that she, as a handful of female workers among 450 men at Patrick’s Port Botany docks, she was surrounded by posters of naked women and piles of pornographic magazines and regularly asked about her sex life... The matter came to a head when she alleges she was driven at night to a secluded part of the port behind freight containers where a male employee placed his hand between her legs and encouraged her to have sex with him.[438]
The article quoted the complainant’s legal representative’s description of the matter as “the worst case of sexual harassment I have ever seen”[439] and a Patrick Stevedores spokesperson expressing disappointment over the failure of conciliation and the complainant’s decision to speak to the media.[440]