Not consensual: court documents lift lid on Tim Paine sexting scandal

Court documents reveal Renee Ferguson alleges she was continually harassed at Cricket Tasmania by several of its employees.

Tim Paine resigned as Test captain in November following revelations of the sexting incident with Ms Ferguson Picture: Chris Kidd

Former Cricket Tasmania staffer Renee Ferguson has alleged she was “deeply offended” after ex-Test captain Tim Paine sent her a “sexually explicit, unwelcome and unsolicited photograph of his genitals” and bombarded her with sexual messages.

In an explosive 18-page application to the Human Rights division of the Federal Court, Ms Ferguson asserts there was no pre-existing sexual or romantic relationship with Mr Paine.

Previously Mr Paine has admitted to sending texts to Ms Ferguson – including a photograph of his penis – but has claimed it was a consensual exchange.

Former Cricket Tasmania employee Renee Ferguson. Picture: Supplied

She also said three other men employed by Cricket Tasmania – whom she had also never had a sexual or romantic relationship with – bombarded her with unsolicited sexual messages and comments.

One of the men, Shannon Tubb, then Cricket Tasmania high performance coach, allegedly sent several photos of his penis and offensive messages like: “You made me hard today, I know you noticed” and “Send me something, I want to play with myself”.

Ferguson says the harassment was “relentless and systemic” and felt she was compelled to “put up with” the sexually explicit messages and graphic remarks she received over the course of two years. She also states “no one was doing anything about it”.

Ms Ferguson said her time at Cricket Tasmania left her feeling suicidal and “unable” to care for her two children.

Ms Ferguson alleges her complaints were routinely disregarded by Cricket Tasmania.

She alleges one of her superiors responded to her sexual harassment allegations with the words; “at least he has good taste in women”.

Tim Paine and wife Bonnie. Picture: Instagram

In her affidavit to the Federal Court she said “inappropriate sexual comments in the workplace and sending sexually explicit text messages to colleagues” was the accepted behaviour and work culture at Cricket Tasmania.

She is seeking damages for emotional trauma caused by the experiences at Cricket Tasmania and a judge has sent the matter for mediation on March 17.

Separately, Ms Ferguson is still facing charges of allegedly fraudulently obtaining a $705 Cricket Tasmania junior and platinum membership, a $339 Hobart Hurricanes family membership, and stole $1942 in cash. She has pleaded not guilty. The charges were laid after Ms Ferguson resigned from the organisation.

Ms Ferguson alleges that in a “performance issues” meeting with Cricket Tasmania’s People and Culture Manager, Ms Zoe Rohrer, on 16 November 2017, she had again raised the history of her “sexual harassment complaints”.

Ms Rohrer is alleged to have said to Ferguson, “I was not here, I cannot manage historically or retrospectively. I am not saying it did not happen, but you need to move forward”.

The document reads: “This made the Applicant feel as though the Respondent saw her as the problem and did not want her to continue working there rather than taking steps to deal with her serious complaints of sex discrimination and sexual harassment.”

She says the time there left her suffering intense anxiety and severe insomnia.

It was while she was working at Cricket Tasmania that she met Mr Paine, also a Tasmanian representative as well as Australian cricketer.

Paine as captain of Australia. Picture: AFP

For the first time, Ms Ferguson reveals her version of the full text exchange with Paine and says she did not engage with him to have a “sexually explicit” conversation.

She says on the morning of 23 November 2017, Mr Paine sent her a text about a conversation he had with her the previous evening, claiming it left him unable to sleep.

The document reads; “Mr Paine initiated the conversation to a sexual level. The Applicant stated that she did not want to initiate anything physical with Mr Paine. To that end she tried to end the conversation on text stating to Mr Paine:

“Ha……sorry I’m getting ready for work……it’s a big day for us kids.”

Mr Paine continued to send explicit messages and eventually asked Ferguson to: “Finish me off with those lips then Renee (emoji wink face)”.

The Applicant was unsure how to deal with this and responded in the following terms:

“A real woman would never kiss and tell…..regardless neither of us are in a position of power….we are both f*cked if this got out”.

The court document details; “In direct response Mr Paine sent the Applicant a picture of his penis exposed in bed. The Applicant was taken aback by the picture and found it highly offensive and did not solicit or seek to see Mr Paine’s penis or receive such a sexually explicit photograph. Mr Paine wrote underneath the photograph of his penis: “true!! So f*cked”

The document goes on to say; “The Applicant [Ms Ferguson] was worried and in an attempt to assure Mr Paine that she would not disclose his behaviour in the hope that he would cease said: “One thing I can guarantee you, I am a vault. Never repeat a thing.” Mr Paine continued the conversation on a sexual level and replied: “Same here……” “Finish me off right now!”

Ferguson said she did not respond to Mr Paine’s continued sexually explicit discourse nor the sexually explicit unwelcome and unsolicited photograph of his genitals.

“These matters deeply offended the Applicant,” the document reads. “The Applicant felt that making inappropriate sexual comments in the workplace and sending sexually explicit text messages to colleagues was the accepted behaviour and work culture at the Respondent (‘the workplace culture’). Consequently, the Applicant felt that she had to ‘put up with’ the behaviour as described above in order to continue receiving work from the Respondent.”

As well as the non-consensual exchange with Paine, Ferguson details how she had been subjected to a relentless barrage of sexual harassment during her employment.

Ms Ferguson also claims she was sexually harassed by the then Cricket Tasmania Acting Membership Manager Jon Adams. Two months into her employment Mr Adams started telling her sexual stories and asked if she had “rooted” a cricket pitch curator.

In her claim she says Mr Adams asked her; “have you and [a curator] rooted yet? Who’s going to go first, me or him?”.

Ferguson said a complaint to Cricket Tasmania human resources Merv Saltmarsh about Mr Adams was dismissed. She said Mr Saltmarsh disregarded her complaint with the words; “at least he has good taste in women”.

Another complaint, this time to Mr Adams’ manager Mr Michael Roberts, who was the Hobart Hurricanes General Manager at the time, was dismissed with the words; “don’t tell me those stories again, they’re gross”.

When she told Mr Roberts she believed she had been the subject of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, and that she had tried to handle it by trying to ignore Mr Adams’ behaviour, Mr Roberts responded, “I suggest you keep just doing what you’re doing”.

Ferguson claimed Tubb, who is currently a cricket coach at the prestigious private school Prince Alfred College and employed by SACA, sent her numerous unsolicited messages on Snapchat which were sexually graphic.

Ferguson said she attempted to ignore Mr Tubb’s messages but advised that he continued to frequently send her messages.

She also alleges Mr Stephen McMullen, who was the General Manager of Venue Operations at the Respondent on multiple occasions made inappropriate sexual comments to her.

“In response to the Applicant passing a message on to McMullen from another colleague, Mr McMullen told the Applicant to tell the colleague that he “had been out rooting”,” the document reads.

In early 2020 Grahame Perkin a clinical psychologist opined in relation to Ms Ferguson “that she was very distressed and reported a number of concerning symptoms” including intense anxiety, severe insomnia, inability to care for her two sons (now living with their father), social avoidance, periods of binge drinking, a “sense of powerlessness and despair re: her current state and situation”.

The psychologist also said Ms Ferguson was at a great risk of suicide: “I’m especially concerned by the change in her thinking and behaviour regarding her sons. Previously she has described her love and competence in caring for her children both pre and post separation from their father. In contrast to this, Ms Ferguson now states they may be better off without her. I regard this as most disturbing. Overall I believe there is a significant risk of suicide”.