2 weeks Ago
The boss of a Sydney construction firm has been ordered to pay his secretary tens of thousands of dollars after he threatened her employment to 'extort' her into sex when she rejected him. Axe Construction director Richard Aubertin sexually harassed his office administrator Sonata Trakimaite from October 2020 through to December that year, the Federal Court ruled on November 8. Aubertin and Ms Trakimaite first met in a Sydney bar in April 2016 before he offered her casual work at his business based in Double Bay in August 2020.
Ms Trakimaite claimed to her friend, Anais de Caires, she felt 'forced' to have sex with her boss on October 31, 2020 because if she did not she would lose her job, court documents, reported by The Australian, reveal. The pair then entered into a sexual relationship in the weeks that followed. By December 24 she was pregnant with his child and Aubertin was calling her 'crazy' while trying to convince her to abort the baby after she refused to do so.
Aubertin let her know that she no longer had a job and demanded she return the office keys on December 30 'Your now on your own I want nothing to do with this bulls*** good keep out of my life f*** off,' Aubertin texted at the time, the court heard. Axe Construction director Richard Aubertin was ordered to pay $25,000 to his former employee Sonata Trakimaite after he 'extorted' her for sex Judge Robert Cameron found that Aubertin's business was vicariously liable for his actions and that Ms Trakimaite's 'employment appears to have ended as an implicit consequence of the end of the personal relationship'. Aubertin is the sole director of Axe Construction and his duties included running the operations of the business and employing and managing staff.
Judge Cameron said Aubertin had taken advantage of Ms Trakimaite's 'vulnerable' circumstances as she considered her employment to be unstable and as she was working multiple jobs at the time. According to her friend Ms de Caires'..
. Zak Wheeler.
