Over several months the lawyer made numerous attempts to discuss entering a relationship with his employee. He also initiated unwanted physical contact without permission. The repeated nature of the conduct, the imbalance of power between the parties and the distress caused by the lawyer’s conduct led the Committee to make a finding of unsatisfactory conduct. The Committee asserted that the conduct would be regarded by lawyers of good standing as being unacceptable and unprofessional. The lawyer was ordered to pay the maximum fine ($15,000) and contribute to costs.

Mr X was a partner in a law firm. Ms Z was employed by the firm as a manager reporting directly to Mr X. It was in the context of a professional relationship that Mr X made repeated attempts to commence a romantic relationship with Ms Z.

Ms Z reported Mr X’s conduct to another partner at the firm, alleging that Mr X requested to go around to her house to give her a present before Christmas; touched her arm, shoulder and hand and kissed her on the lips; made numerous invitations to spend time outside of work; and scheduled numerous meetings in her office that, because of their manner, affected her ability to carry out her job. The firm instructed an independent investigator to investigate the allegations.

The investigation report (Report) corroborated Ms Z’s allegations and found that Mr X breached the firm’s sexual harassment policy by:

1. continuing to talk to Ms Z about starting a relationship over a period of three months in circumstances where he ought reasonably to have realised that Ms Z was not interested in such a relationship at any time in the near future;
2. initiating a kiss with Ms Z without her permission while at her home;
3. holding Ms Z’s hand without her permission in circumstances where Ms Z had told him unequivocally that she wanted him to stop talking about entering into a relationship; and
4. by kissing her on the lips without her permission.

The Report was submitted by the law firm to the Law Society under r 2.9 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 (Rules).

In determining liability, the Committee accepted the findings of the Report noting that Mr X’s behaviour towards Ms Z was not limited to a one-off circumstance where Mr X may have displayed a momentary lapse of judgement. Instead, Mr X’s behaviour was persistent and occurred over a period of months.

In that time, Mr X repeatedly made verbal and physical approaches to Ms Z that, based on the evidence available to the Committee, were unwelcome and caused her to feel uncomfortable and distressed. The Committee considered the persistent nature of Mr X’s conduct, the power imbalance between the parties and the stress caused to Ms Z as aggravating factors.

The Committee appreciated that Mr X may initially have been under a mistaken impression that his feelings were reciprocated, particularly when considering the challenges of navigating a workplace relationship. However, the Committee found that Mr X persisted beyond what a reasonable person ought to have done when, in the Committee’s view, it became clear that his feelings were not mutual and indeed unwelcome.

As such, the Committee considered that Mr X’s conduct lies at the higher end of unsatisfactory conduct and would be regarded by lawyers of good standing as being unacceptable and unprofessional.

In assessing penalty, the Committee agreed that the matter required a disciplinary response to address the fact the Mr X’s repeated conduct towards Ms Z was unacceptable conduct by a lawyer. Mr X was ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 and contribute to costs.