Bodybuilder Ariel Dencio cleared of gay slur complaint by Scott Evans
A wannabe bodybuilder told a court he felt snubbed by his champion personal trainer and made baseless complaints he was subjected to gay slurs and sexual harassment.
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Champion bodybuilder Ariel Dencio has been cleared of baseless allegations he subjected a personal training client to a barrage of gay slurs, in a dispute that escalated after Dencio snubbed the man on Instagram.
Dencio’s former personal training client, wannabe bodybuilder Scott Evans, lodged a complaint with the ACT Human Right Commission last year, claiming he was sexually harassed and discriminated against.
Dencio is a national bodybuilding champion, has held national powerlifting records and is a veteran of the Canberra fitness industry.
Evans’s complaint was entirely rejected last month, following a hearing at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The hearing was told Evans sent Dencio text messages of topless men, and a video of a man pulling a tractor by his genitals.
Evans also became emotionally “reliant” on Dencio, despite Dencio repeatedly telling Evans he was only interested in his diet and training.
Evans had a mutual friend quiz Dencio about why he didn’t “follow (him) on Instagram or social media or praise him for his … his prowess in bodybuilding …”.
Dencio said to the mutual friend words along the lines of “I think he is attracted to men” and Evans later admitted to making “a couple of comments” that would have made Dencio think that.
Tribunal member Kristy Katavic rejected Evans’s complaint that Dencio had gestured at him aggressively and said “you’re gay, you’re gay, you’re gay”.
Ms Katavic found Dencio never did anything like that.
Ms Katavic said Dencio’s one-off comment to Evans saying “I thought you were attracted to men” was neither harassment nor discriminatory.
Ms Katavic found Evans’s complaint “appears to be generated by his dissatisfaction with (Dencio’s) lack of socialisation with him”.