A senior Fortescue executive under investigation over allegations of sexual harassment and bullying remains in the role while an external inquiry is underway, Reuters reported.
Fortescue’s energy chief Gus Pichot said the company had taken extensive legal and governance advice before deciding how to proceed with the investigation. The mining company has appointed law firm MinterEllison to examine the allegations, which it said it was taking “extremely seriously”.
“We have taken extensive external legal and governance advice so we are quite confident we are following the proper process,” Pichot said on an earnings call.
Fortescue reports workplace misconduct cases
The investigation comes as Fortescue reported a 20% decline in psychosocial breaches during the latest financial year. The category includes sexual harassment, ethics issues and other workplace incidents.
The company, which employs 16,154 people, said it had dismissed 11 employees for breaches of its code of conduct relating to discrimination and sexual harassment.
Fortescue recorded 13 cases of inappropriate sexual contact, 10 cases of sexual harassment and one case of sexual assault during the year.
The allegations against the unnamed senior executive were first reported by the Australian Financial Review earlier this month.
Mining industry faces continued scrutiny
The developments come amid wider scrutiny of workplace misconduct across Australia's mining sector, particularly at Western Australian mine sites.
Fortescue was served with a class action in July alleging workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment and sex discrimination. The action was filed by JGA Saddler, which has also launched class actions against BHP and Rio Tinto.
BHP reported that it terminated 109 employees for sexual harassment and 22 for racial harassment during the 2026 financial year. The miner recorded an 11% decline in sexual harassment reports to 380 and a 17% fall in racial harassment reports to 86.
Rio Tinto, meanwhile, recorded a 24% increase in incidents reported to its Care Hub in 2025. The service supports employees experiencing harmful or disrespectful workplace behaviour, including harassment.
Western Australia sees decline in reported incidents
WorkSafe Western Australia recorded 28 incidents related to sexual assault and harassment during the first six months of the year, according to data provided to Reuters.
That compared with 113 incidents across the whole of the previous year and a peak of 421 in 2022.
The regulator attributed the decline to a dedicated team of specialists established to strengthen its response capacity following a state inquiry into sexual harassment.