AMP firm hit with 10 sexual harassment complaints in 2 years

The company said it wanted to offer “transparency”, revealing it had investigated 10 sexual harassment complaints in the last two years.

An Australian company has revealed it investigated 10 sexual harassment complaints in the past two years after it battled a public backlash of its handling of claims against a former executive.

The financial services firm AMP reported it was making data on “sexual harassment matters” public for the first time as part of its “commitment to implementing industry recommendations on transparency”.

There were five complaints each made in 2020 and 2021 reported its Sustainability Report, which was released to the Australian Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Out of the 10 complaints, three were “substantiated” resulting in a formal warning and additional “appropriate” consequences for the perpetrator including docking pay or bonuses and requiring extra training.

Man touching woman's elbow isolated on black - sexual harassment in business office

Seven of the matters were “not substantiated” due to a lack of evidence, the complaint being withdrawn or the issue was resolved informally between the parties, the report noted.

No details were provided on the nature of the complaints.

An AMP spokesman said that in the interests of being transparent and leading best practice, the company had shared the data.

“By taking the step of increased transparency, we want to lead the way to create more safe and inclusive workplaces,” he said.

“Any case of sexual harassment is one case too many, but we have made strong progress on the transformation of our culture, and we continue to work on making sure we have an inclusive and safe work environment.”

AMP said it was providing the data as part of a transparency commitment. Picture: iStock

It is understood that none of the complaints from 2020 and 2021 related to former executive Boe Pahari, who had sexual harassment allegations levelled against him.

Ex-AMP employee Julia Szlakowski made headlines after claiming she had been sexually harassed by her superior Boe Pahari in 2017.

However, although her sexual harassment claims were found to be true from a company investigation, AMP decided to promote Mr Pahari to CEO of AMP’s money management arm.

Boe Pahari, former head of AMP Infrastructure Investment Fund. Picture: Britta Campion

After a public backlash which saw multiple workers quit and AMP’s share prices plummet, Mr Pahari announced he would be leaving the company.

In a statement at the time, he apologised to Ms Szlakowski and said he deeply regretted the events that occurred in 2017.

In April last year, it was revealed that Mr Pahari would receive a $50 million payout for his departure.

Originally published as AMP firm hit with 10 sexual harassment complaints in 2 years