a) Ms Frith responded to an advertisement for a senior bar attendant at the Exchange Hotel, Mossman in early August 1998;
b) Ms Frith attended an interview with a director of the company that operates the Exchange Hotel (Glen Straits Pty Ltd) Mr Martin Brindley on about 10 August 1998;
c) As a result of that interview, Ms Frith was employed as a senior bar attendant, which provided for a salary of $420.00 for a 30 hour week;
d) Ms Frith travelled with Mr Brindley and other employees who had been hired to Mossman to take up this position on 21 August 1998;
e) Ms Frith was required to live on-site at the Exchange Hotel in Mossman and when she arrived at the hotel she was shown a room which had a common bathroom;
f) On the evening of 21 August 1998, all of new employees went into the bar area of the hotel and were drinking together and with Mr Brindley;
g) Late on that Friday night, 21 August 1998, Ms Frith received a telephone call and was informed that an auntie of hers had died. There is no dispute that she was deeply shocked and distressed upon receiving this news. Ms Frith had at that time partaken of a disputed amount of alcohol;
h) Ms Frith says that on that evening Mr Brindley offered her some comfort and as she was upset suggested to her that she go upstairs with him and continue to drink in the room. Ms Frith says that she declined that offer as she did not think it was appropriate;
i) Ms Frith accepts that she was then drinking with some of the local customers of the hotel and later went with them outside and smoked some marijuana away from the Hotel premises;
j) Ms Frith states that on the following morning she spoke with Mr Brindley and asked if she could start to do some work behind the bar in order to keep herself occupied, which she did;
k) She says that after she finished her work she went with other staff members, Ms Greenland, Mr Rooney and Mr Pronk down the street and had some lunch and that during lunch she discussed with Ms Greenland and the others that she would like to travel back down to the Sunshine Coast to attend her aunt's funeral;
l) Ms Frith says that later that day she had a conversation with Mr Brindley about the death of her aunt and how she might best make arrangements to get home and that she then made enquiries about catching a bus to the Sunshine Coast from Cairns;
m) Ms Frith says that once the bus tickets were confirmed on the morning of Sunday 23 August 1998, Mr Brindley agreed to cash a tax cheque she had through the Exchange Hotel and advised her that there were no buses from Mossman to Cairns but that he would be able to drive her to Cairns on that Sunday afternoon as he needed to drive to Cairns before Monday 24 August 1998. She advised him that her bus ticket needed to be paid for before 5.00 p.m. on Sunday 23 August in order to secure a place on the bus leaving Cairns on the following day;
n) Ms Frith says that Mr Brindley returned her tax cheque to her before they left Mossman and stated that she should pay him for the ticket when she returned to Mossman or alternatively he would deduct the amount from her wages;
o) On that afternoon of 23 August, Ms Frith states that Mr Brindley drove her to Cairns and on the journey he asked her a lot of personal questions regarding her personal life including whether she had a boyfriend, questions about her sex life and relationships with her ex-boyfriends. She states that he talked about his personal life and told her she was a hard person to reach. She says that she did not talk to Mr Brindley very much on the drive to Cairns as she was distressed and suffering a great deal of grief and sadness as a result of the death of her aunt, whom she was very close to. She states that as they drove past the Novotel Hotel in Cairns Mr Brindley told her that he had once hired prostitutes and taken them to that hotel. He also informed her about some girls who had hurt him in the past. She says that when she was not very responsive to him he again told her that she was a hard person to reach;
p) Ms Frith says that when they arrived in Cairns she asked Mr Brindley if he could advise her of a good place to stay in Cairns that would not be too expensive and he told her that he always stayed at the Lyons Hotel and that she was not to worry as he would make all of the arrangements. He told her that she could pay him back later when she returned to the Exchange Hotel;
q) Ms Frith says that, when they arrived at the Lyons Hotel, Mr Brindley went inside to book the accommodation and she got the bags from the car. When she came inside with the luggage she says that Mr Brindley told her there was only one room left available and that it was a room with separate beds and he suggested that she share the room with him. She says that she was a little disappointed but there was nothing else that she could do but agree to this arrangement. She said that it did not cause her concern as the staff members had all shared a room on the journey up to Mossman and that the living arrangements at the Exchange Hotel were basically shared;
r) Ms Frith states that they then went out and had a drink before having dinner together. It is her evidence that they returned to the room they were sharing at the Lyons Hotel and were in their separate beds with the lights out when Mr Brindley told her that she was perfect for the job but she would have to please him personally as well as professionally as he was a man of power who had to have his needs met;
s) Ms Firth gives evidence that she recalls telling Mr Brindley that it was against the law for an employer to require an employee to please him sexually and she reminded him that he was married with a son not much younger than her. She says that he responded by saying age did not matter and that there was no law prohibiting him from making those suggestions. He said that she was being immature and if she wanted the job she had to have sex with him as he was a human and needed taking care of. She alleges in her evidence that Mr Brindley said words to the effect that if she did not have sex with him, that she could not work for him;
t) It is Ms Frith's evidence that she was horrified by his words and that she grabbed her bag and ran out of the bedroom while still wearing her pyjamas. She says that the effect of this upon her was that she was very angry, very upset and felt extremely vulnerable. She says that the feelings of vulnerability were already there because of the death of her aunt and she felt Mr Brindley had taken advantage of her;
u) Her evidence is that after leaving the hotel room she went straight down to the lobby of the hotel feeling upset, confused and lost. There she met two men who were in the lobby at the reception area, a Mr James Stewart and a Mr Werner, and she advised them what had happened. She says that they unlocked a toilet for her and she was able to change out of her pyjamas;
v) Ms Frith states that she immediately telephoned the Exchange Hotel and spoke with Ms Emmett, one of the managers and advised her what had happened. She was advised to telephone Ms Betty Brindley and tell her about this sexual harassment by Mr Brindley;
w) It is her further evidence that she telephoned Mrs Brindley and she was upset and crying. She was asked by Mrs Brindley to calm down and tell her what had happened. She recalls that Mrs Brindley was at first silent and then told Ms Frith that she was just as hurt and shocked as Ms Frith was. Ms Frith says that Mrs Brindley then handed the telephone to her son and that she spoke to him. She says that she then explained what had happened to the son and was asked questions by him about the time, the place and other details of the incident. She says that she had to ask Mr Werner and Mr Stewart some of the details, such as the time that she had come to the lobby. She says that Mrs Brindley then came back onto the telephone and told her she was falsely accusing Mr Brindley, that she was to book another room at the Lyons Hotel and that Mrs Brindley would telephone her back after she had spoken to Mr Brindley;
x) Ms Frith says that, although there were other rooms available upon her enquiry, she did not wish to remain there as she did not wish to speak to or see Mr Brindley again. She then decided she would walk to the bus stop and wait there. She felt unsafe at the bus stop and was upset, tired and angry so she telephoned the police station and was told that she should come down to the station but that they could not arrange for a police car to collect her;
y) Ms Frith states that she then started to walk to the police station but the streets were very dark. She asked for directions at a service station and was given directions by the man at the service station who ordered a taxi for her. She said that she then took the taxi to the police station;
z) Ms Frith says that the police told her that there was nothing that they could do as no criminal offence had been committed but they gave her the number for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and told her that she could stay on the couch at the police station, which she did. Once it was light, the police drove her to the bus depot where she cancelled her return ticket and caught the bus to the Sunshine Coast;
aa) Ms Frith says that, on 28 August 1998, she telephoned Mrs Brindley in relation to obtaining her luggage from the Exchange Hotel as she was not returning. She was told by Mrs Brindley that she had made a very big mistake and it was rude of her to accuse Mr Brindley. She was told by Mrs Brindley that she was a very silly girl and should consider herself lucky that Mr Brindley would arrange to send her luggage to her. She says that Mrs Brindley also told her that she was recording the telephone conversation. Ms Frith says that by the 10 September 1998 her luggage had still not been returned to her, so she telephoned Mrs Brindley again and was told that she did not know what had happened to her luggage and queried why she should help her so Ms Frith terminated the call;