Fortescue defended keeping an executive at work during a harassment investigation; days later it reversed course and suspended the employee | World News

Fortescue is facing renewed scrutiny over workplace conduct as an external investigation into allegations involving a senior executive runs alongside separate legal action brought by former employees. The mining company has confirmed that law firm MinterEllison is examining the allegations, while the executive remains employed as the inquiry continues. At the same time, a class action filed in July alleges broader workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment. The case follows similar proceedings involving BHP and Rio Tinto, putting workplace culture across some of Australia’s biggest mining companies under growing attention.Fortescue’s own annual figures add another layer to the story, with reported psychosocial breaches falling during the latest financial year. But those numbers cover a wider range of workplace concerns and cannot be treated as a direct measure of sexual misconduct. The separate investigations, court cases and internal reporting figures show how difficult it can be to assess workplace conduct through any single set of numbers.

Fortescue has hired MinterEllison to investigate allegations against an unnamed senior executive

Fortescue confirmed that MinterEllison had been engaged to examine allegations concerning the unnamed senior executive. The company has also sought outside legal and governance advice about how the matter should be handled while the inquiry continues.Gus Pichot, Fortescue’s energy chief, said during an earnings call that the company believed it was following the appropriate process. The executive remains employed while the investigation is taking place.That arrangement means the allegations have not yet been resolved. The investigation is intended to establish what happened and whether any workplace rules or standards were breached.The allegations were first reported by the Australian Financial Review earlier in August. Fortescue has not publicly identified the executive involved.

98 psychosocial breaches, with 11 dismissals over misconduct recorded

The investigation comes alongside Fortescue’s annual disclosure of workplace conduct figures. The miner recorded 98 psychosocial breaches during the latest financial year, a 20% fall from the previous year.The category covers a range of workplace concerns rather than sexual harassment alone. It includes matters such as ethical issues and other incidents that can affect employees’ psychological wellbeing.Fortescue said 11 employees had been dismissed for breaches of its code of conduct involving discrimination and sexual harassment. Its internal findings included 13 cases of inappropriate sexual contact, 10 cases of sexual harassment and one case classified as sexual assault.“Sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination and any behavior that makes people feel unsafe have no place at Fortescue.”As reported by Australian Financial Review (AFR), the company employs 16,154 people. Those figures provide a broader picture than the investigation involving the senior executive. They cover cases dealt with across the organisation during the financial year and do not indicate the outcome of the current inquiry.

Mining’s long-running workplace problem

Sexual harassment has remained a difficult issue for Australia’s resources industry, particularly in Western Australia, where mining is a major employer and workplace culture at remote sites has faced scrutiny for years.A state inquiry into sexual harassment in the resources sector began in 2021. Its findings brought greater attention to complaints about inappropriate behaviour and the difficulties workers can face when reporting misconduct in workplaces where power structures can be pronounced.The issue has not been confined to Fortescue. BHP, the world’s largest mining company by market value, reported 380 sexual harassment complaints in its latest financial year, an 11% reduction from the previous year. It also said 109 employees had been dismissed for sexual harassment and 22 for racial harassment.BHP’s workforce, including contractors, numbers more than 84,000 globally, so its figures cover a much larger employee base than Fortescue’s.

Rio Tinto sees Care Hub reports climb, highlighting the limits of comparisons

Reportedly, Rio Tinto has reported a different trend in the number of matters reaching its employee support system. The miner recorded 702 incidents through its Care Hub during 2025, a 24% increase from the previous year. The service deals with a broad range of harmful or disrespectful workplace behaviour, including harassment, rather than focusing solely on sexual misconduct.The figures from the three mining companies cannot be read as a direct league table. Their reporting systems, definitions and workforce sizes differ, and an increase in reports can reflect changes in reporting behaviour as well as changes in the underlying level of misconduct.A fall in complaints does not necessarily mean every form of harmful behaviour has declined, just as a rise can sometimes indicate that employees have become more willing or able to report what they experience.

Western Australia has seen a fall in reported cases

As reported by Reuters, WorkSafe Western Australia also points to a reduction in incidents reported to the state regulator. WorkSafe recorded 28 incidents involving sexual assault and harassment during the first six months of 2026. That compares with 113 incidents across the whole of 2025 and 421 in 2022.The regulator linked the decline to the work of a specialist team established after the state inquiry. The team has expanded the regulator’s capacity to respond to reports involving sexual harassment and assault.The figures cover reports received by the regulator and should not be taken as a measure of every incident occurring across the state’s workplaces. Many cases may never reach a regulator.

Fortescue faces legal action as its senior executive misconduct probe continues

Fortescue is also facing legal action over alleged workplace misconduct. A class action filed in July alleges misconduct including sexual harassment and sex discrimination. The potential damages have not yet been specified.The case was brought by law firm JGA Saddler, which has also filed class actions against BHP and Rio Tinto over alleged workplace misconduct. Those proceedings, launched in late 2024, remain before the courts. The legal cases and Fortescue’s internal figures are separate from the investigation now being conducted by MinterEllison. The external inquiry concerns allegations against a particular senior executive, while the class action addresses broader claims about workplace conduct.For Fortescue, the immediate issue is therefore being handled on two fronts: an investigation into allegations involving a senior figure and continuing legal scrutiny over wider workplace practices.