Kristy Fraser-Kirk may have settled her A$37m battle against David Jones for substantially less, but employment and workplace lawyers are experiencing an increased level of client queries in the aftermath.

According to DLA Phillips Fox workplace relations partner Rick Catanzariti, his practice area has experienced an increased number of enquiries from organisations looking to evaluate and update their existing policies. “Since the David Jones case hit the press, there have been a lot of inquiries regarding sexual harassment,” said Catanzariti. “Companies are concerned about becoming involved in high-profile litigation, so many are looking to take preventative action in the form of compliance audits, contract reviews and internal training.”

Catanzariti has received numerous requests from organisations, their directors and boards about their existing policies and training arrangements around sexual harassment in the workplace in the past few months. According to a survey by DLA Phillips Fox, 40% of the 294 respondents across private, public and not-for-profit organisations had a heightened concern for sexual harassment in the workplace following the David Jones case while only half of the respondents indicated that their workplace culture was in-line with company policies. Almost a third were concerned that a section of their workforce had developed a rouge culture.

Catanzariti says that there has also been an increase in the number of complaints against companies involving an element of sexual harassment. “I’m seeing a lot more sexual harassment claims being introduced into other claims,” he added. “It appears that people are more likely to say they were sexually harassed. Whether it’s genuine or not is another issue.”  The reverse is also happening, with a number of sexual harassment claims broadening to include other breaches in the workplace such as breach of contract and breach of workplace safety, said Catanzariti.