Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Balkan intrigues ... Old coppers stagger into the Croatian Six inquiry ... 15-year jail terms in 1980 for alleged terrorism ... Miscarriage of justice under review ... Verballing ... Loading-up ... Old fashioned detective "work" ... Evidence so far ... Hamish McDonald reports ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


Splitting heirs ... How to get rid of the Royals – a Republican tours Orstraya … Underneath their robes – sexual harassment on the bench … Credit card fees – so tricky that only economists know what to do … Muted response to Drumgold vindication … Vale Percy Allan ... Read on ... 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Blue sky litigation ... Another costly Lehrmann decision ... One more spin on the never-never ... Arguable appeal discovered in the bowels of the Gazette of Law & Journalism ... Odious litigants ... Could Lee J have got it wrong on the meaning of rape? ... Calpurnia reports from the Defamatorium ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian's Bloggers

Online incitements ... Riots in English cities fed by online misinformation about refugees ... Policing and prosecution policies ... Fast and furious processing of offenders ... Online Safety Act grapples with new challenges ... Increased policing of speech on tech platforms ... Hugh Vuillier reports from London ... Read more >> 

"Mistakes of law or fact are a professional inevitability for judges, tribunal members and administrative decision makers."  

Paul Brereton, Commissioner of the National Corruption Concealment Commission, downplaying the Inspector's finding of bias and procedural unfairness with his conflicted involvement in the decision making about Robodebt referrals ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Vale Percy Allan AM ... Obit for friend and fellow-traveller ... Prolific writer on economics and politics ... Public finance guru ... Technocrat with humanity and broad interests ... Theatre ... Animals ... Art ... Read more ... 


Justinian's archive

A triumph for Victorian morality ... Ashton v Pratt ... In the sack with Dick Pratt ... Meretricious sexual services renders contract void on public policy grounds ... Justice Paul Brereton applies curious moral standard ... A whiff of hypocrisy ... Doubtful finding ... Artemus Jones reporting ... From Justinian's Archive, January 24, 2012 ... Who knew the NACC commissioner had strong views on the sanctity of marriage ... Read more ... 


 

 

« Secret justice | Main | Adversarialism and the binary nature of the legal system »
Sunday
Oct162011

Montage of an Italian stallion

Styles v Clayton Utz ... Two judgments dealing with pleadings in the sex discrimination case against the large law shop ... Taunting photos ... Unfunny parodies ... Sexual tension ... Metro manwhoreishness 

The Izzo photos, which are a key component of the sexual harassment case brought by Bridgette Styles against Clayton Utz, have been on display in NSW Supremes. 

Clutz's objections to the latest round of Styles' proposed amended pleadings proved successful. 

Two photos are in contention - a montage of pix of Luis Izzo with post-it note bubbles or captions and a separate framed photo of him. 

Both were placed close to Styles' office at Clutz and she says they made her the subject of sexual jokes. 

At the time both Styles and Izzo were employees of Clayton Utz in the workplace relations group. 

Styles submission was that the photos were sexualised in themselves and the sexual harassment did not depend on the context in which they were displayed. 

However, it was conceded that there were no particulars in the pleadings to sustain that position. 

The plaintiff submitted that she took objection to the sexualised nature of photos of Izzo at the time she saw them, and not merely in hindsight. 

Styles contends that rumours abounded while she was employed at Clayton Utz as to whether she was sexually involved with Izzo. 

She alleges that people asked her directly whether that was the case, after she had engaged in a single "one-night stand" with him. 

Izzo & Styles

The montage and the framed photo were discussed in detail in the redacted reasons of Justice Lucy McCallum dealing with the pleadings, dated September 5.  

That judgment has only just been published following submissions as to which parts should be removed to avoid prejudicing a February jury trial of Styles' defamation proceedings against Clayton Utz and Izzo. 

The montage itself is not in evidence, only a poor quality photo of it. Apparently the item "had not been retained" by Clayton Utz. 

In this most recent round on the pleadings Styles wanted to insert new paragraphs into the amended statement of claim: 

"25A The montage appeared to the plaintiff to be a joke lampooning Izzo's reputation within the Sydney office as a man who had slept with a number of colleagues.

Particulars

The plaintiff drew this conclusion based on her observations that:

(i) Izzo's reputation, as a Casanova, was based on his conduct in boasting about having slept with colleagues including her:

(ii) the montage was located outside her office:

(iii) the montage contained no apparent reference to Izzo's work as a solicitor;

(iv) the montage contained, instead, a text bubble stating: '[We're] pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking [Luis]. We hope you plan on figuring out what that is'; and

(v) the montage contained a photograph of Izzo making what the plaintiff understood to be a sexualised hand gesture:

Particulars

The hand gesture is formed by extending the index and little fingers while holding the middle and ring fingers down with the thumb." 

Izzo montageMcCallum concluded that those matters are not capable of sustaining the allegation that the montage is in itself conduct of a sexual nature in relation to the plaintiff. 

"I do not see anything in [the montage] that is objectively capable of meeting the description contended for by the plaintiff." 

In relation to the framed photo of Izzo, the plaintiff sought to add that it ... 

"was perceived by the plaintiff to be a joke of a sexual nature, implying she was 'in love' with Izzo, because people generally only keep, in expensive looking photograph frames in their offices, flattering portraits of adults whom they 'love', namely their romantic partners or spouses." 

This suffered from the same difficulties as the montage. The judge said: 

"In my view the contention that the display of an anodyne photograph is capable of taking on a sexual character (as so to amount in itself to conduct of a sexual nature) on the ground of the perception pleaded is objectively unsustainable."  

Styles also sought an order in the following terms:  

(g) [the framed photograph] was recognized by the plaintiff to be a substantially enlarged A4 copy of Izzo's 'Clayton Utz intranet photograph', which fact reinforced her perception it was a sexualised joke, given that said intranet photograph was the subject of an email (the 'Manwhore Email') which, to the knowledge of the plaintiff at the time: 

(a) had been sent by members of the workplace relations group from Izzo's email address:

(b) to a significant number of other employees:

(c) as a parody of Izzo's sexual desirability, in that the plaintiff was aware it contained words to like effect of those that it does contain, namely:

a. I have an intranet photograph to die for;

b. I am THE Italian Stallion:

c. I have the best hair in all of Sydney; 

d. If I see you in the lift, I'll grace you with a head nod... But please don't come up to me at work drinks - I'll just pretend I don't know you;

e. In metro-manwhoreness, Luis 'Greasy' Izzo, Solicitor/ Workplace Relations/Clayton Utz. 

The framed pic of IzzoJustice McCallum observed: 

"The proposition that a standard head and shoulders shot of a man in a suit, whether or not placed in an extensive looking frame, could have sexual connotations or be understood to be a sexualised joke, is in my view untenable." 

Finally, the plaintiff wanted a further amendment, claiming that the law firm detrimentally failed to "properly investigate the montage and framed photograph". 

The judge found that, "the logical difficulty with the plaintiff's claim ... is that the gist of the complaint accuses the defendants, as it appears, of failing to investigate something that was never brought to their attention". 

That disposed of Styles' most recent notice of motion. 

It's all available here.  

And the redacted September 5 judgment is here   

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Editor Permission Required
You must have editing permission for this entry in order to post comments.