Workers set to bring sexual harassment, discrimination class action against mining giant Rio Tinto

Mining giant Rio Tinto is facing a class action lawsuit brought by workers and contractors to find out whether it is liable for sexual harassment and discrimination alleged to have taken place at its mine sites.

Led by Shine Lawyers, the investigation aims to find out whether Rio “failed to take adequate steps to eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment for employees as far as possible in its workplaces, and whether they are liable” said class actions’ practice leader Sarah Thomson on Wednesday.

It comes two years after a damning Elizabeth Broderick & Co report, commissioned by Rio, revealed disturbing findings of bullying, sexual harassment, racism and other forms of discrimination through the company.

According to Shine, an employer can be held vicariously liable for harassment by employees if the employer did not take “all reasonable steps to prevent the employee from committing the harassment, per the Sex Discrimination Act”.

At this stage it’s not clear how many individuals have joined the class action, which has not yet been officially filed.

In response to queries from The West Australian, a Rio spokesman confirmed the miner was “aware” a legal firm was investigating a potential class action.

“We take all concerns about workplace safety and culture including sexual discrimination and harassment very seriously,” he said.

“In 2022 we released an external review of our workplace culture as part of our commitment to drive meaningful change to create a safe, respectful and inclusive workforce.”

An independent review into Rio’s progress on this front, spearheaded again by former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, is also under way.

“It is our intention to publish the report by the end of the year,” the spokesman said.

Rio’s initial review was launched in a bid to drive cultural change across the global organisation, which had been under intense scrutiny following the destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock caves at its Brockman 4 iron ore mine in the Pilbara in 2020.

At the time Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the findings of the report were “deeply disturbing”.

Reporting by The West Australian triggered a landmark study and parliamentary inquiry into sexual misconduct among WA’s fly-in, fly-out workforce.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.