Strange text messages from luxury jewelery store owner Grew & Co sent to a female employee – as he is ordered to pay record damages in an Australian sexual harassment lawsuit
A Sydney jeweler and his company have been ordered to pay a record $268,000 in damages after a judge found he sexually harassed a female staff member.
Fiona Taylor, 35, alleged she was harassed by Grew & Co owner Simon Grew, 45, over a period of just under two years while she worked at the store on Kent St in Sydney’s CBD.
Ms Taylor started working for the prestigious jeweler in January 2018, but did not return to the office after August 2020 when she filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
A recent judgment by Federal Court Judge Anna Katzmann found that Mr Grew had harassed Ms Taylor when he ‘bottom-slammed’ her in 2019, and when he twice confessed his feelings for her in 2020.
Ms Taylor claimed Mr Grew had been standing in the doorway of the shop and as she walked past him he slapped her buttocks once.
“She felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’, laughed ‘with shock’ and found the incident ‘quite overwhelming’,” Judge Katzmann said in her findings.
Fiona Taylor, 35, alleged she was harassed by Grew & Co owner Simon Grew (above), 45, for just under two years while working for the company in Sydney’s CBD.
Ms Taylor said she did not complain at the time because there was no HR and she would have had to complain to Mr Grew himself.
Mr Grew denied the allegation and said that as she turned away from him, his hand accidentally brushed the back of her dress, for which he apologised.
Judge Katzmann also found that Mr Grew had showered Ms Taylor with expensive gifts in late 2018 – around the time he divorced his wife.
Although he also gave gifts to other staff members, it was not to the extent he gave to Ms Taylor.
She alleged that he gave her nineteen unsolicited and unwanted gifts. Mr Grew said only some of the gifts may have been unsolicited.
The gifts included silver and gold jewelry, a Michael Kors bomber jacket, a $200 Mecca voucher, a Chanel wallet and $2,000 in cash that Mr Crew said was an early Christmas bonus.
“I definitely started to worry. I felt a little trapped. I didn’t know how to – well, really, what to do,” Ms Taylor said.
Mr Grew had texted a colleague in 2019 saying Ms Taylor was ‘so easy to travel with’, a verdict says
Pictured is another text Mr Grew sent to Ms Taylor, pictured in the judgment
“He always presented it in a way where I couldn’t say no, otherwise it would be quite rude to say no.
“So yes, I felt like I was in a very difficult position, that I had to appease my boss to keep my job.”
In January 2020, Mr Grew told Ms Taylor he had romantic feelings for her, despite her being in a relationship.
The court heard evidence that Mr Grew said he could “no longer hold his feelings inside” and said Ms Taylor was “the most beautiful woman I have ever seen”.
‘We get along so well, we like the same things. My children don’t need a mother, they need a friend. We can run the business together or if you want to start your own business, I can help you with that,” he said.
Judge Katzmann said Ms Taylor was ‘overwhelmed by the revelation’.
“Ms. Taylor made it clear to him that she was not interested in a romantic relationship with him,” Judge Katzmann said.
The following month, Ms. Taylor texted her boss saying they needed to set boundaries before a business trip to Arizona.
Mr Grew also said Ms Taylor was ‘perfect’ in another message
In June of the same year, Mr Grew was driving Mrs Taylor home when he confessed his feelings for her for the second time.
“During the course of the conversation, Mr. Grew told her he would ‘fight a tiger’ for her,” the findings said.
Ms Taylor complained that Mr Grew sexually harassed her in August 2020. In September she filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Mr Grew admitted that although he was attracted to Ms Taylor, he denied that his conduct was in a sexual manner or that he had made any sexual advances towards her.
Judge Katzmann also found that Mr Grew “made unsolicited statements” to Ms Taylor between October and December 2019.
These include ‘you have a very nice body’, ‘you have a nice body’ and ‘you have bedroom eyes’.
Ms. Taylor was awarded $140,000 for the sexual harassment and $40,000 for the victimization.
It was also awarded for past and future economic losses and loss of pension.
It is the highest amount of damages awarded in a sexual harassment case under the Sex Discrimination Act.
Judge Katzmann found that she has since become socially withdrawn and has trouble sleeping.