Andrew Forrest warns workers over ‘disturbing’ sex harassment allegations

Andrew Forrest, the billionaire chairman of mining giant Fortescue, has sent a stark warning to employees after a class action alleged sexual harassment, violence and discrimination against women at the company’s remote Australian mine sites.

In an internal email to Fortescue’s global workforce on Friday, Forrest described the detailed allegations ranging from serious sexual assault to day-to-day cat-calling and hostility against female workers as “serious” and “disturbing”.

“Anyone who thinks this behaviour has a place at Fortescue is in the wrong company,” Forrest wrote. “Losing your job is the beginning of the consequences, not the end.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Federal Court on Thursday by class action law firm JGA Saddler on behalf of female fly-in, fly-out workers, marks the latest escalation in the ongoing scrutiny of the treatment of women in Australia’s male-dominated mining sector.

A statement from the law firm includes 45 testimonials from women who have worked at Fortescue’s iron ore mining operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara, detailing incidents of alleged sexual assault, harassment and discrimination.

They include one female Fortescue employee who reported a man pulling her into a dark alley and trying to “stick his tongue down my throat”, while another woman said she had arrived home one night to find a random man in her room.

In another instance, a woman who had to ask male co-workers to blow into breathalysers as part of on-site health and safety protocols said she would receive comments such as “I’ll blow wherever you want me to”.

Another woman said if she dropped something on the ground during her shift, men would say: “Baby girl, while you’re down there …” .

According to Forrest’s memorandum to staff on Friday, Fortescue executives first learned the specifics of the allegations through media reports published on Thursday.

Forrest, one of Australia’s richest people, has long sought to position ASX-listed Fortescue Metals Group as a corporate leader in diversity and inclusion. While pointing out that women make up 50 per cent of Fortescue’s board and about a quarter of its total workforce, he has said that “numbers alone are never enough.”

“Every woman at Fortescue must know she is safe, respected, and backed by our company,” the memo says. “Physical harassment will not be tolerated. Sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Where conduct amounts to criminal behaviour, we will support our people and expect the law to take its course.”

The mining sector has struggled for years to police behaviour at isolated “mining camps”, where workers live for weeks at a time. The environments have historically been troubled by alcohol cultures and a severe gender imbalance.

A landmark West Australian parliamentary inquiry has previously exposed a pervasive culture of sexual misconduct across the state’s remote mining camps, prompting promises of reform from Australia’s biggest iron ore producers including BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue.

JGA Saddler filed class actions against Rio Tinto and BHP in 2024 alleging harassment and sex discrimination against female employees. They are still before the courts.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.