Supreme Court judge sexually harassed associates: internal reports

A Victorian Supreme Court judge sexually harassed two young associates over several years, including kissing them and putting his hand between one woman’s thighs in the back seat of a car, two internal reports have found.

The reports, which were handed to the court late last month after a months-long investigation by respected barrister Kate Eastman, SC, have not been made public. The women requested The Age not name the judge because doing so could identify them.

The judge has since retired from the Victorian Supreme Court.Credit:

The judge retired from the bench before the investigation began.

He denied to Ms Eastman that his conduct amounted to sexual harassment, a denial she rejected. “Based on the information provided by [him], it is apparent he had no insight about the appropriate boundaries and that his conduct transgressed those boundaries,” she found.

The young women say his conduct has left them with ongoing distress and trauma years later.

When Janet* began working with the judge she was 21, had just finished university and had never worked in the law before.

In the first year of her employment, she said, the judge “insisted” on taking her for dinner. When she got to the restaurant he had booked, she discovered he had hired a private dining room for the two of them.

The former judge acknowledged this, telling Ms Eastman he had deliberately booked a restaurant table away from the legal precinct and prying eyes.

“I thought it inappropriate for a judge to be seen dining with a female Associate – which may have given rise to mischievous and baseless gossip [and that] being away from other lawyers and the general public ... would be an opportunity to avoid this.”

After the dinner, Janet said, the judge had a private car drive them home. She said when they arrived at his house to drop him off, he paused before exiting the car, leered at her and put his hand between her thighs. Shocked, she said words to the effect: “I have to go home now.” She told Ms Eastman that when she got home she broke down and had a panic attack.

On another occasion, Janet alleged that when she ran into the judge outside the Law Library of Victoria after a judge’s dinner he took her head between his hands and kissed her on the lips. He denied to Ms Eastman he had kissed Janet on the lips or held her head, but said he kissed her on the cheek to demonstrate his thanks and happiness at the way the dinner had gone.

After rumours swept the court, to her horror, that Janet and the judge were having an affair, she requested a transfer to another judge, which was granted. She left the Department of Justice months later.

Lisa*, then 26, began working for the judge about this time.

Ms Eastman found the judge – who admitted falling in love with Lisa – wrote her poetry and relied on her emotionally during a period in which his marriage was breaking down. She did not invite or encourage him to do so.

“She excused [the judge’s] behaviour because she understood he was experiencing a difficult time. He was also in a significantly more powerful position to [Lisa] and she was concerned that she may have to tolerate the behaviour to retain her employment. There was a significant age gap and power disparity between them.”

Ms Eastman contacted the judge in August 2021 to advise she was investigating the women’s complaints. Despite being warned against contacting them, he wrote a two-page letter to a general email inquiry account at Lisa’s workplace, Ms Eastman said, describing his sexual impotence during the period they worked together, her youth and beauty, and declaring: “If falling in love with you was and remains a crime, I am guilty.”

The judge defended his behaviour, insisting to Ms Eastman he and Lisa were simply “close adult friends”.

He also said Janet’s evidence lacked credibility. “[She] has unduly coloured her evidence with a view to deliberately painting a lascivious, lecherous and predatory picture of me, which is very far from the truth ... I am a gentle and tolerant person who behaves in (sic) gentlemanly and respectful way towards women.”

The women’s lawyer, Josh Bornstein, said they welcomed the reports’ findings and would pursue compensation claims.

“In this case, the judge vigorously contested the allegations, but his denials were not accepted. Regrettably, the legal profession is a high-risk profession when it comes to sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

“A reckoning is underway and a critical part of that reckoning is confronting the truth of what has happened and ensuring that there is proper accountability. The outcome of the investigation forms an important part of the process.”

*Not their real names

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