Former CSIRO scientist Katherine Morton ‘home-bound’ on Tasmanian farm after sexual harassment complaints

A former CSIRO scientist who largely failed in her attempts to prove she was punished for making sexual harassment claims moved to Tasmania after losing her job, court documents show.

A former CSIRO scientist became virtually home-bound on her Tasmanian farm after attempting to sue the organisation for sexual harassment, court documents show.

Katherine Morton worked in aquaculture for CSIRO’s agriculture business unit in Brisbane, but left in 2015 when she was certified unfit for work with a psychiatric illness.

She made explosive complaints against several of her colleagues, including claims her senior supervisor asked about her sexual preferences, referred to her as a “prostitute”, slapped her backside with a riding crop, and said “women only wear pendants to draw attention to their cleavage”.

Dr Morton’s position was made redundant in November 2016, but she claimed this occurred due to her sexual harassment claims.

Former CSIRO Senior Research Scientist Katherine Morton in Launceston. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

She subsequently bought a 81ha property in a “relatively remote area of rural Tasmania” and attempted to make an income by agisting sheep.

Late last month, the Federal Court of Australia upheld one of her complaints that a CSIRO employee failed to comply with grievance procedures when dealing with some of her complaints.

The court ordered the CSIRO pay her $1000 in compensation, but otherwise dismissed her claims.

Justice Darryl Rangiah deemed there were discrepancies between how Dr Morton presented as a witness and the symptoms she described after becoming redundant and said she “substantially exaggerated” her symptoms to psychiatrists.

Dr Morton, who runs a Facebook page called “The Sexually Assaulted Scientist”, was diagnosed last year with a major depressive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia, with a psychiatrist noting she spent her days “caring for multiple cats and some other farm animals”.

“She has frequent panic attacks, and this has led on to agoraphobia meaning that she is virtually bound to her home and certainly within her property in Tasmania. She does not go out shopping or for anything other than medical necessity,” the psychiatrist said, according to court documents.

“I believe that the reputational damage to Dr Morton as a result of the allegations and subsequent court actions with CSIRO would make her essentially unemployable in the small scientific community in Australia.”