AMP sexual harassment victim left fuming from Boe Pahari‘s $50m payout
A sexual harassment victim is furious after the perpetrator is set to get a $50 million “golden parachute” payout.
A sexual harassment victim is furious after the man who allegedly made inappropriate advances and drove her out of the company is set to get a $50 million “golden parachute” payout.
Ex-AMP employee Julia Szlakowski made headlines last year 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.
After 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.
However, in April this year, it was revealed that Mr Pahari would receive a $50 million payout for his departure.
Speaking at a financial conference on Wednesday, Ms Szlakowski slammed the move and also revealed it wasn’t the first time she’d experienced sexual harassment while at work.
She has also worked in politics and hospitality and said all workplaces shared one thing in common: sexism.
“I got fired for not sleeping with my boss,” she sensationally claimed about her time in politics in an address to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) via Zoom.
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US-based Ms Szlakowski took aim at her former bosses during in speech, not just Mr Pahari, and said women were partly to blame for a company’s “toxic culture” which made it easy for men to get away with sexual harassment.
She’s worked in a number of industries – hospitality, politics and private equity. All made it easy for men to get away with sexual misconduct.
Working as a waitress while at university, Ms Szlakowski said she was made to wear “revealing uniforms” and treat customers like they were always right, even if they were being sexually inappropriate.
“Drunk men, who regularly made sexually explicit comments at my expense, were treated with deference by male and female managers alike,” she said at the ACSI conference.
But it got worse.
While working on a US political campaign that required her to travel with a team to a convention, her unnamed boss didn’t book a hotel room for her – and invited her back to his own.
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Ms Szlakowski said she was “reassured by a female superior that I’d have a place to stay,” after learning there was no booking under her name.
But the boss, who was 30 years older than her, beckoned to her in the hotel bar.
“I grabbed my clipboard and pen and dutifully marched over. He had already ordered two drinks and started walking away from the crowd, motioning me to follow him,” she recalled.
“We eventually arrived at his hotel room, which was furnished with a bed, a chair and a desk.
“I opted to sit in the chair, clipboard tightly clenched in my hands – guarding my torso. My eyes were fixed on the room’s only exit. Suddenly, he dispensed with the formalities, discarded his jacket and invited me to join him on the bed to watch a movie.
“I sheepishly declined so as not to irritate him and insisted we get some work done. He ordered me to try my drink and started flipping through the channels.
“My heart began to pound when he informed me that his room should be sufficient for my stay at the convention.”
She remembers him asking her “You’re not a princess who needs her own room, are you?” as a way to pressure her into staying in the room.
In the end she left the room, and was terminated from her role by the time she arrived home.
“For some time, I struggled with the complicated feelings that arose from the unequivocal fact I got fired for not sleeping with my boss.”
She decided to quit politics.
“So, at age 30, I entered the high stakes world of private equity.”
Previously speaking to news.com.au, Ms Szlakowski said back in December 2016, she landed the prestigious gig as an Institutional Director for the Australian multinational financial services giant, AMP.
However, she soon attracted unwanted attention from her then-boss Bodhisattwa ‘Boe’ Pahari, who was global head of infrastructure equity.
Mr Pahari is alleged to have repeatedly asked what the age was of the oldest man she ever dated – sometimes in front of colleagues.
It’s worth noting Mr Pahari is 20 years older than Ms Szlakowski, who is 41.
He even flew Ms Szlakowski from her home in the US to London for a meeting then made her accompany him alone to an exclusive private members’ club, she said.
During the trip, Ms Szlakowski refused to use his credit card to go shopping for “a nice dress and heels,” for her extended stay.
Mr Pahari claimed her actions were “ … as humiliating as if I had a limp d*ck”.
Four long years after the incidents, Mr Pahari is now leaving the company.
Mr Pahari previously said in a statement via AMP: “I deeply regret the events in 2017, and I apologise to Julia Szlakowski.
“I am committed to doing everything I can to see this business and our people reach full potential. The best way I can make amends is to do the job I have been given to the best of my ability.”
Ms Szlakowski said his departure from the company is being cushioned by an enormous payout.
“My harasser … is set to finally depart next month, with a reported $50 million golden parachute,” she claimed in the conference.
News.com.au contacted AMP and the company had no further comment and has not confirmed details of Mr Pahari’s payment.
Ms Szlakowski said on Wednesday that the decision to go public with her claims had seriously decreased the company’s value.
“Since July 1, 2020, when news of my 2017 sexual harassment complaint broke, AMP shares fell approximately 40 per cent or $2.8 billion in market capitalisation,” she said.
“Between last July and March of this year, investors withdrew $9 billion in assets under management from AMP Capital – approximately $2 billion in corporate pension assets and about $8 billion in total wealth management products.
“A number of pension funds withdrew hundreds of millions from AMP‘s ethical investment options and a $5 billion property fund recently changed ownership.
“Now, this 172-year-old company is no longer in the top 20 or the top 50 on the ASX – and its market capitalisation continues to shrink.”
Continue the conversation | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au | @AlexTurnerCohen
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