Tim Paine’sexting’ scandal: woman’s attempt to bring harassment claims denied

After a judge rejected her justification for the case’s delay, the lady who was embroiled in a “sexting” incident involving former Australia test captain Tim Paine had her attempt to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against Cricket Tasmania denied on Thursday.

Renee Ferguson, 47, was requesting an extension of time in the Federal Court since she had almost three years left to bring her lawsuit against her former employer.

Ferguson, a receptionist for Cricket Tasmania (CT), said that between 2015 and 2017, Paine and other CT staff members harassed her sexually. In 2018 Cricket Australia’s integrity unit looked into and cleared Paine for sexual text messages he sent to Ferguson, despite his denial of any wrongdoing. Both CT and the staff members refuted the claims.

In 2018, Ferguson filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging sexual harassment; however, the case was dismissed in November of the same year. Justice Mordy Bromberg noted in notes made public by the court that she had until January 2019 to apply to the Federal Court without needing prior permission, but she didn’t until November 2021.

Ferguson explained her delay in launching the action by stating that her “mental and physical health as well as her economic stability” had rapidly deteriorated. But according to Bromberg, Ferguson was unable to adequately explain the delay.

“I am not convinced that allowing Ms. Ferguson to make her extremely late application is in the interests of the administration of justice,” he wrote. In light of the substantial media coverage this case has received, I want to be clear that neither Ms. Ferguson’s nor TCA’s (Cricket Tasmania) account of the events is supported by my conclusion. After the “sexting” scandal came to light, Paine resigned as captain in November and took a sabbatical from cricket.

Ferguson will have a court appearance in February after being accused of stealing money from Cricket Tasmania while working there.