A gay federal police officer who was repeatedly unable to secure a work transfers to the same city as her partner has lost her discrimination claim against the force.
Detective Sergeant Kathryn Richens had sought more than $800,000 in compensation, claiming the Australian Federal Police discriminated against her because of her relationship with fellow employee, Senior Constable Emma-Kate McPherson.
Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer on Thursday threw out Det Sgt Richens' claim but said the case did not reflect well on the AFP, and took aim at the force's rigid and unsupportive approach.
Det Sgt Richens and Snr Const McPherson began a relationship in 2013 while based in Canberra and Brisbane, respectively.
They repeatedly tried to secure transfers to the same city but Det Sgt Richens claims they were told their case was not the same as that of a heterosexual couple.
In a 2013 letter to then-Assistant Commissioner Leanne Close, the couple said they had been told their "circumstances are not comparative to the co-location of heterosexuals who meet genuine compassionate reasons".
"It's not the AFP's problem we live apart nor is it the AFP's responsibility to co-locate people with their partners," the couple also said they were told.
Justice Mortimer noted Det Sgt Richens had not provided any evidence about the alleged comments said to have been made to the couple.
Det Sgt Richens had asked for $868,784 in compensation, partly for the hurt and humiliation she says she suffered while fighting to be allowed to work in the same city as Snr Const McPherson.
Det Sgt Richens also claims the force later refused to let her transfer to the counter terrorism division because she complained to the Fair Work Commission about the situation involving her partner.
"As a gay female in the AFP I have felt completely unsupported and that the AFP Values in employment do not apply to my family unit, partner, and career," the officer said in a statement to the court.
"The AFP have damaged my confidence, self-esteem, resilience, reputation, depleted my ability to overcome and cope with normal setbacks by persistently treating me differently because l made a complaint."
While throwing out the damages claim, Justice Mortimer said the force could have been more supportive of the women's desire to be transferred together.
"In an organisation the size of the AFP, I do not accept that was an impossible or unreasonable task," she found.
"There appears to be have been a rigidity, and a lack of understanding and compassion, at work."
Justice Mortimer added there appeared to have been "something approaching a stubbornness not to appoint DS Richens to any of the positions for which she applied, or expressed interest, or might otherwise have been suitable".
"These matters do not reflect well on the AFP as an employer," she said.
© AAP 2024
