‘Get the Coffees’ Request Deemed Not to Be Sex-Based Harassment

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) in a recent ruling dismissed a senior employee’s claim of unfair dismissal, ruling that asking a female employee if she was “right to get the coffees” was not discriminatory and therefore she was not forced to resign.

The case centred around allegations of sexual harassment and bullying by a male colleague towards a former senior engineer at engineering consultancy WSP.

In this particular case the dispute arose during a client workshop, where a colleague allegedly asked the engineer (the Applicant), the only woman present among the nine attendees, to “get the coffees”.

The Applicant, feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable, subsequently filed a complaint of gendered harassment and bullying with WSP’s HR department. 

After an investigation, the HR department concluded that the request did not constitute gender-based discrimination or bullying. 

Commissioner Chris Simpson noted that it was necessary to consider the context and reason for the request, and in order to be gender-based discrimination the request must be because of the person’s gender. Ultimately the Commission supported the HR department’s conclusion, as:

1. the request was not a direction; 

2. the colleague had initially asked another colleague to request either the senior engineer or a male colleague to fetch the coffees, which was not passed on to those colleagues and they ended up only attending the meeting via teams;

3. the other colleagues had already brought fruit, muffins, plates and napkins to the workshop; and

4. the colleague ultimately purchased the coffees himself and apologised to the Applicant when he became aware that the request had upset her.

Ultimately, the Commissioner dismissed the Applicant’s application, concluding that she had not been forced to resign as she had other options available to her including invoking the review process or exploring mediation. 

This case is a great reminder for clubs to note the importance of considering context in workplace disputes, and highlights the need for clear communication with employees and to ensure that they understand the policies in place relating to sex-based misconduct and bullying.