Exclusive
Whistleblowers say the State Government is stalling million-dollar sexual harassment claims from female State Library of Queensland staff after many women have been identified in 2784 secret close-up photographs of breasts and cleavage discovered on a government-issued iPhone and iPad in 2012.
The photographs, showing close-ups of the cleavage of women SLQ staff, women from the public and young female high-school students, were taken by a senior State Library of Queensland staff member on that staff member's government-issued iPhone and iPad.
The State Library of Queensland insists the issue has been investigated and denies preventing staff from lodging sexual harassment claims.
The existence of the secret photographs – taken while the staff member pretended to make or receive emails on their phone – was confirmed publicly by Queensland's State Librarian Janette Wright in a Workers Compensation hearing on July 29, 2014.
"It was clear to me that the behaviour that had been established was clearly gross misconduct," Ms Wright said.
On the same day she confirmed that six staff members were quickly identified in the photographs.
"And from looking at those photographs it was clear that those photographs were taken of their breasts and they were clearly not posing for the photographs," Ms Wright said.
Fairfax Media understands that 11 or 12 SLQ staff members have been identified after speaking to whistleblowers since November 2014.
The staff member was first spotted by a junior SLQ member taking a photograph of the cleavage of a female Crown Law barrister as she bent over to retrieve something from a bag in a court hearing on October 17, 2012.
By October 22, 2012, Ms Wright – as Queensland's State Librarian and chief executive officer of the State Library of Queensland Board - had been notified, as had the Crime and Misconduct Commission and Crown Law.
However the staff member was not automatically suspended on full pay pending an inquiry and allegedly continued taking close-up photographs of women and teenage girls at the SLQ until December 11, 2012 until he was confronted by Ms Wright, according to the whistleblowers and evidence given in Workers' Compensation hearings in July 2014.
Around 200 of the close-up images contain enough of a face to enable investigators to identify women.
State Library of Queensland's deputy chair and prominent feminist writer, Dale Spender, chose to resign from the State Library of Queensland board in September 2013 because of the board's handling of the sexual harassment issue in August 2013.
Ms Spender declined to speak on the issue, but confirmed sexual harassment was an issue in her resignation.
In November 2014 the secret photography scandal was raised with Fairfax Media by whistleblowers frustrated by what they claim are attempts by the State Library of Queensland to frustrate their sexual harassment claims.
Former SLQ staff member Daniel Abel – one of a series of whistleblowers to speak to Fairfax Media about the secret photographs – was in court when the senior SLQ employee took photographs of the female barrister on October 17, 2012 and blew the whistle.
Mr Abel was employed on a series of temporary contracts but was "not renewed" after his latest temporary contract finished in December 2014.
"I felt sick in my stomach, I didn't know where to look," Mr Abel said of the incident.
"It was creepy to the core. (The person) kept getting up and leaving the room and taking more and it went on for the entire day," he said.
Embarrassed, Mr Abel told the female lawyer on October 17, 2012. The lawyer then told her boss at Crown Law.
By November 2012 both Crown Law and the Crime and Misconduct Commission asked the State Library of Queensland to investigate the SLQ employee who took the photos.
The State Library of Queensland has since four times unsuccessfully appealed against Mr Abel ongoing receipt of Worker's Compensation payments for stress and anxiety.
Identified SLQ staff members are incensed they were initially told by SLQ senior managers in April and May 2013 that they were "in the background of the photographs" and in situations where they would "normally expect to be photographed," according to evidence to the July 2014 Workers Compensation hearings.
One woman still working at the SLQ told Fairfax Media she gave evidence to Workers Compensation hearings in July 2014 that she had to insist four times in May 2013 to see the covertly-taken photographs of her cleavage.
She had been told by two senior library officials investigating the secret photographs that "she was fully clothed" and "had nothing to worry about".
"Then on May 16, I received 14 in the mail and my suspicions were confirmed. They were focussed on my breasts," the woman said in a statement.
This was confirmed last week by the woman's solicitor Wayne Hampton.
The State Library of Queensland in May 2013 also tried to charge her $1750 for sending the 14 photographs by courier to her home, where she could view them in private, and for a Right To Information inquiry she made.
The State Library of Queensland is also appealing against this woman receiving Worker's Compensation payments.
The woman's treating psychiatrist, Dr Andrew Khoo, told the three-day Workers Compensation hearing in July 2014 it was clear to him the evidence of secret photographs were the cause of his client's anxiety and stress after she had allegedly been "ogled" by the senior SLQ staff member since 2004.
"Firstly, she has been the subject of a clear kind of professional breach of professional boundaries and her civil liberties in terms of the photographs taken of her," Dr Khoo said on July 29, 2014.
"And I think another considerable stressor and something that added to perpetuating her condition has been her perceived lack of support from her workplace.
"She was feeling somewhat dismissed."
Dr Khoo said the woman had been given compensation for psychiatric stress and anxiety, triggered by her battle to see the 14 photographs of her breasts.
Fairfax Media has recent affidavits tendered in evidence to the July 2014 Workers' Compensation hearing from Queensland former State Librarian Lea Giles-Peters, the State Library's former Cairns-base regional director Terena Hopkins and Victoria Jones, the State Library's former Building Design and Development manager, supporting the female staff member's claims of sexual harassment.
In the July 2014 Workers Compensation hearings, the woman also gave evidence she told her senior SLQ staff members she wanted to lodge a group sexual harassment claim.
"I raised the five women that were part of that meeting and part of that idea was that I wanted to put in a group sexual harassment claim," the woman told the hearings.
A second woman – who allegedly earlier caught the staff member photographing her – eventually told State Librarian Janette Wright on May 24, 2013 that she also wanted to lodge a sexual harassment claim.
What the whistleblowers want
Daniel Abel and other whistleblowers are calling for an independent investigation – similar to the one carried out into Queensland's Fire and Emergency Services into sexual harassment and workplace bullying reported last week by Margaret Allison – to be completed into the SLQ.
They also want Queensland's State Librarian Janette Wright to stand aside while an investigation is completed. Ms Wright's contract finishes in January 2015.
"It cannot be done in-house. It cannot be done by the Library Board of Queensland and it cannot be done by the Arts Minister," Mr Abel said.
"It has to be a completely 'independent of government' review in my opinion, because they have proven themselves to be unworthy of it and unwilling to do the right thing."
The whistleblowers also question why the State Library investigated the matter itself and whether that breached the guidelines of the CMC (now the Crime and Corruption Commission) to avoid conflicts of interest.
What the State Library of Queensland says
Arts Minister Ian Walker – whose portfolio covers the State Library of Queensland – continually insisted the secret photography scandal was not a matter for him as Minister.
"These are matters for the State Library Board," he said.
State Librarian Janette Wright said many of the original allegations were covered by personal privacy issues.
She denied the State Library of Queensland investigating a former SLQ employee's behaviour was a conflict of interest and a breach of the CMC's "Facing the Facts" guidelines on investigations.
"We have clear policies and procedures for managing any potential conflicts of interest," she said.
"The SLQ, upon advice, referred this matter to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (now CCC) in 2012. In late November 2012 it was referred back to SLQ to investigate," she said.
"The SLQ then appointed an independent external investigator and external forensic investigator. We also co-operated fully with the Queensland Police Service. The QPS determined that no further action was required."
"We have a clear set of policies, procedures and staff support network to ensure a fair and safe workplace. At every step, these guidelines were rigorously pursued."
Police did investigate in May 2013 but initially did not look at the secret photographs.
They decided instead to interview Ms Wright, who allegedly told police it was an "in-house matter".
In June 2013, when told the photos included SLQ staff members, members of the public and high school students, police viewed them at Crown Law offices but did not view them as "criminal".
Fairfax Media has chosen not to name the employee accused of taking the secret photographs nor publish some details which could identify the person, because there is some information the staff member received psychiatric treatment and was hospitalised after a stress attack when confronted with the allegations.
The employee was still signing important documents on behalf of the library in the lead-up to their departure in December 2012. The staff member's resignation became effective in July 2013.
Ms Wright insists she acted on Crown Law advice during the complex investigation.
Who is in the photographs?
In December 2012, Mr Abel said he was asked by the chief librarian to identify the woman barrister when private investigators Ashdale Workplace Solutions retrieved the 2784 photographs.
Mr Abel said he could not find the barrister's image but was subsequently able to identify up to a dozen SLQ female staff members.
"The investigator showed me these 200 because they had headshots or partial headshots in the hope that I could identify some of the people in there," Mr Abel said.
"They were all of staff in various locations around the library, going about their normal day and (the staff member) was taking photos of their breasts and cleavage and whatever.
"There were members of the public on there, high school students."
Mr Abel rejected suggestions the photographs were just "general photographs" of people in the library. His description of the photographs is backed by complainants, one of their lawyers, and in evidence given as part of workers' compensation claims.
"There were some of staff in a meeting in a cafe and (the staff member) was taking pictures of their breasts as they were sitting back," he said.
"There was another of a woman bending over in the library bookshop. (The staff member) got a shot of her cleavage. That woman was a member of the public.
"And then there were high school students in State High uniforms at various locations studying around the library."
Mr Abel, as a former State Library visitor officer, recognised the Brisbane State High School uniform.
He said most photographs were close-up of the students' chests and breasts.
"The focus was of their chest area and there was even one of the library staff's daughters … in the lift.
"And (the person) had taken photographs of her breasts."
This is not disputed in any evidence given to the Workers Compensation hearing in July 2014.
Sexual harassment issues
Bennett and Philp compensation lawyers Mark O'Connor and Michael Coates from Brisbane said SLQ staff could receive compensation for lost wages, medical expenses and "compensatory" damages in any sexual harassment claim.
Mr Coates raised a New South Wales' case where the Federal Court raised an initial $18,000 damages award for sexual harassment to $130,000 against software company Oracle.
"But there have been some more recent more severe cases, which we've spoken about."
A Cairns victim in a recent Department of Defence case received $100,000, Mr Coates said.
In another case, $90,000 was awarded, he said.
Queensland Government lawyer Susan Wishart identified the government's concerns about future sexual harassment claims in a Queensland Industrial Relations Commission preliminary hearing on March 12, 2014.
Ms Wishart was speaking at the start of an appeal by one of the original six female SLQ staff members identified in the photographs, against the Workers Compensation Board decision to reject her workers' compensation claim.
Ms Wishart told the Commission the government believed the female SLQ employee's appeal would open the door to sexual harassment claims.
"If the appeal is successful," Ms Wishart told the hearing on March 12, 2014, then (the female SLQ worker) would be entitled to statutory compensation which will affect the premiums of the state," she said.
"And she could potentially pursue a common law damages claim, which would similarly have an adverse pecuniary impact on the state."
The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library in Queensland and a popular place for students and researchers. It is on Kurilpa Point on the Brisbane River in the Queensland Cultural Centre at South Bank.
Contact the reporter via tony.moore@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
