A shocking recording has surfaced of a Channel 7 cadet being dismissed after making sexual harassment complaints about an older male colleague.
Amy Taeuber, who was a 27-year-old cadet journalist in Adelaide at the time, was summoned to a meeting with an HR representative where she was presented with allegations of bullying and told to immediately leave the premises.
Days earlier, Ms Taeuber made an official complaint about an older male reporter who, on multiple occasions, commented on her appearance, criticised her relationship status and called her a lesbian.
The cadet was then blindsided when she was called into her news editor’s office and met with allegations she had bullied a fellow cadet – a cadet she was still friends with and made no complaint.
“He went straight to his news director and human resources and said, ‘You know this is ridiculous. I don’t understand why my name is being involved. I’ve never made any complaints about Amy, she’s my friend. I want my name taken off it’,” her sister Kate Taeuber said.
In the recording, made by Ms Taeuber to protect her legal rights and aired by 7:30 Report, the HR rep forces her support person to leave the room – a move the media union says breaches workplace laws and the Seven Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
WATCH: A journalist is sexually harassed while reporting on sexual harassment… you can’t make this stuff up.
When she reads the bullying allegations made against her, Ms Taeuber is told she would be “relieved” of her phone and identity pass and not allowed “touch the IT”, not even to log out of personal websites.
“I would like to know who has made these allegations, because they are absolutely absurd,” she responds.
“I feel like this is humiliating me for making a complaint in the first place and this is disgusting.
“I’ve done NOTHING wrong. I’ve not done any of this.”
“I’ve not done any of this and I’m requesting to have the statement of the person who made these allegations.”
The human resources manager replied: “OK, so how do we want to plan your exit, Amy? I do understand that we don’t want to make it humiliating for you.”
Becoming tearful, Ms Taeuber told her news director she felt “very victimised, to be honest”.
“I’ve worked so hard to get this job and I know people are just trying to get rid of me now and it’s just really upsetting,” Ms Taeuber said.
“I don’t really deserve any of this for standing up and having a problem with someone calling me a lesbian.”
The broadcaster is still smarting from law-suits from other high-profile disputes with female staff.
Earlier this year, Talitha Cummins sued the company for telling her not to return to work after leaving for maternity leave, while complications from Amber Harrison’s two-year affair with Seven boss Tim Worner have plagued the company for the last year.
