Former Nine junior female staffer reports alleged sexual assault involving senior male manager

An investigation is under way after a former employee at the media company claims she was raped by a male manager after a Christmas work event.

An alleged incident took place after end-of-year celebrations in 2019 near Nine’s then headquarters at Willoughby, on Sydney’s north shore.

A senior male manager at Nine Entertainment is the subject of an investigation into an alleged rape reported by a junior female staff member as part of the media company’s independent review.

The Australian can reveal that lawyers at firm Ashurst this month spoke with the woman – who has engaged her own legal team – about an alleged incident that took place after end-of-year celebrations in 2019 near Nine’s then headquarters at Willoughby on Sydney’s north shore.

It is claimed the male manager and the woman left the work function together and returned to the woman’s home, where the alleged sexual assault subsequently occurred.

The woman initially provided details of the alleged incident as part of consultancy firm Intersection’s review into Nine’s workplace culture. The woman has since provided Ashurst with details of the alleged incident, including her claims of bullying that resulted in her leaving the company in early 2022.

The male manager and the younger woman did not work in Nine’s news and current affairs division.

It is understood there was another senior female manager present at the time the young woman was being plied with alcohol by the male manager at the work function.

At this stage, the matter has not been reported to police.

The female employee later signed a deed of release and was given a five-figure payout in 2022; she claims she was managed out of the business by another senior male manager.

She did not report the alleged sexual assault to the company at the time of her departure.

Nine, which has 5000 employees, has engaged third parties – including lawyers – to investigate some matters that were raised as part of Intersection’s review into the culture at the media company.

The probe was originally set up to focus on Nine’s TV news and current affairs department, but also included a workforce-wide survey on inappropriate workplace behaviours across the entire business.

In a statement released on Thursday, Nine said the company had a “systemic issue with abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment”.

“Driving these behaviours is a lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity, and; significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the business,” the statement said.

On the weekend, Nine chair Catherine West held a series of crisis meetings with senior figures at the company to discuss how to deal with the internal fallout from the Intersection report, which was overwhelmingly met with disappointment by staff when it was released on Thursday.

Nine Entertainment chair Catherine West.

Many Nine staff have spoken to The Australian following the release of the report, with some saying they felt “betrayed” by the outcome of the review into the media company’s workplace culture, with particular anger at the board for its perceived mismanagement of the process.

A common complaint among staff is that they were under the impression action would be taken against people who were identified as repeat offenders, but it soon emerged that Intersection would not be passing on the names of any alleged perpetrators to Nine.

Staff were particularly aggrieved because senior figures at the company, including Ms West, had “exhorted” staff to participate in the review.

One female employee at Nine told The Australian she cried while reading the report.

“The women at Nine have waited months for this to come out,” said the staffer, who did not want to be named.

“But we don’t have any real faith that they (the board) will clean this up. How can they, without names?”

A spokesman for Nine said: “While not making reference to any individuals, more broadly Nine is committed to investigating all complaints raised by employees with Nine through the channels we make available to our people.

“We encourage our people to respect the process of any investigation. We endeavour to provide as much transparency as we can about the processes involved but we do not, and will not, comment on individual cases.

“Confidentiality is fundamental to ensuring a fair and just investigation and reinforcing confidence in our systems and processes. Again, speaking generally, it’s important to note we are alert to and actively looking for inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, and empower our leaders to take action if they observe poor behaviour, even if no complaints are made.”

Originally published as Former Nine junior female staffer reports alleged sexual assault involving senior male manager