A young migrant worker employed casually as a supervisor at a Mad Mex franchise has been awarded compensation after enduring repeated sexual harassment. The result represents a record payout and sends both a powerful message to workplace leaders about their positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and a clear warning to perpetrators who try to weaponise the law to silence victims.
The Court found that a workplace culture existed at the workplace that routinely normalised sexist behaviour and created an environment where sexist conduct thrived. Routine comments and jokes about female staff and customers were accepted behaviour.
NSW Mad Mex franchise owner Sonny Khan, the principal and senior employee of Mexicali Enterprises Pty Ltd, was found to have sexually harassed the young woman in 2023 by -
- commenting on her "hickey" and asking if she got "banged", before pointing out the hickey to other workers and asking them if they thought she enjoyed her night out
- isolating her in his car and showing her screenshots and a video from a porn website, and asking her what her vulva looked like and which of her colleagues she would like to sleep with
- asking her if she had ever had sex with a woman or watched lesbian pornography and when she said no, suggesting that she "loosen up a bit" and experiment
- showing her his sex toys and touching her with one of them
- talking about having sex with his ex-wife
- asking her about how she masturbated
- suggesting they attend a massage parlour to watch pornography together.
The Judge found that senior workers, including Mr Khan, "fostered a workplace culture that was disinterested in preventing sexist conduct from taking place and was instead tolerant, or even conducive to its continuation", and that the culture at that workplace tolerated overt and outspoken sexist and boorish behaviour, which can normalise sexualised behaviour towards women and foster an escalation into worse behaviour, such as a progression into sexual harassment.
After the young worker complained about the conduct Mr Khan embarked on a campaign of victimisation, assisted by his lawyers. They threatened the young woman twice with formal concerns notices, precursors to defamation threats. The Court found that the concerns notices were sent to pressure Ms Magar into backing down which amounted to unlawful victimisation.
In Court Mr Khan’s lawyers questioned her perception of reality, and argument the Judge called “scandalous and entirely unsupported” and “a highly offensive argument”.
The Court awarded the young woman $160,000 in general damages, a record for a sexual harassment case, surpassing the previous record of $140,000. She was additionally awarded aggravated damages, taking the total to $305,000, in part because of the way Mr Khan ran his case and threatened her with defamation.
As well as resulting in the highest sexual harassment payout ever ordered in Australia, this case highlights the heightened vulnerability of migrant women, the cost of ignoring workplace warning signs, and the dangerous momentum of unchecked power.
The law is very clear. Since 2022, every employer, regardless of the size of their business, has a positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act to eliminate sexual harassment.
That means prevention and responding effectively. That means acting on the full spectrum of sexually harassing behaviour, including everyday sexism. That means building safe and accessible pathways to speak up.
For training to learn about obligations to proactively address the risk of sexual harassment in the workplace -
- VTHC Positive Duty training
- VTHC Safe Respectful Workplaces training
- VTHC Women's Rights at Work training
- VTHC HSR Refresher training
You also can learn more about preventing workplace sexual harassment here –
- HSRs - Gendered Violence and Sexual Harassment - OHS Reps
- Employees - Work-related sexual harassment: Know your rights | WorkSafe Victoria
- Employers - Work-related sexual harassment: Know your responsibilities | WorkSafe Victoria
- Employers - Positive Duty | Preventing Workplace Sexual Harassment
Read more: AFR | Record sexual harrassment payout for Mad Mex employee
