Fortescue (ASX: FMG) is keeping an unnamed senior executive in their role while external lawyers investigate allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, energy chief Gus Pichot said Thursday.

The Australian miner has engaged law firm MinterEllison to investigate the allegations, which were first reported by the Australian Financial Review this month. The inquiry comes as Fortescue faces a separate class action alleging workplace misconduct, along with continued scrutiny over its handling of harassment complaints.

“We have taken extensive external legal and governance advice so we are quite confident we are following the proper process,” Pichot said during an earnings call on the company’s annual results.

The allegations have drawn renewed attention to workplace culture at Fortescue, Australia’s third-largest miner and one of the world’s biggest iron ore producers, as Western Australia’s resources industry continues to grapple with sexual harassment and assault at remote operations. A 2022 parliamentary report documented widespread problems across the industry’s fly-in, fly-out workforce — where employees rotate through mine-site camps on extended rosters — and prompted the state to strengthen its response to misconduct at mine sites. Nationally, Australia’s Respect at Work reforms imposed a positive duty on employers to take reasonable measures to eliminate sexual harassment, a standard the Australian Human Rights Commission has been able to enforce since December 2023, increasing expectations on how companies handle complaints.

Shares in Fortescue closed 0.6% lower on Thursday in Sydney at A$17.95 apiece, valuing the company at A$55.3 billion (US$39.3 billion).

2023 settlement

The latest investigation follows an earlier dispute with Western Australian authorities over Fortescue’s handling of alleged misconduct. The miner avoided charges for failing to provide documents concerning dozens of alleged sexual harassment cases after settling the matter in late 2023.

Under that settlement, Fortescue agreed to spend A$1.4 million ($1 million) on strategies aimed at addressing inappropriate workplace behaviour across the mining industry.

The company faces separate legal pressure after law firm JGA Saddler filed a class action in June alleging workplace misconduct, including sexual harassment and sex discrimination. Potential damages have not been specified.

JGA Saddler also launched similar class actions against Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE, NYSE: RIO) and BHP (ASX, LSE, NYSE: BHP) in late 2024. Together, the three miners account for the bulk of the world’s seaborne iron ore trade. Those cases remain before the courts.

Industry disclosures

Fortescue reported 98 “psychosocial” breaches in its latest financial year, down 20% from the previous year. The category covers sexual harassment, ethics violations and other incidents. Such figures have become a fixture of Australian corporate reporting since work health and safety rules were updated to explicitly regulate psychosocial hazards as a workplace risk.

The company, which employs 16,154 people, dismissed 11 workers for code-of-conduct breaches related to discrimination and sexual harassment. It recorded 13 cases of inappropriate sexual contact, 10 of sexual harassment and one of sexual assault.

Fortescue is not alone in confronting misconduct allegations, as Australia’s biggest miners disclose hundreds of workplace complaints and disciplinary actions.

BHP said in its annual report this week that it terminated 109 employees for sexual harassment and another 22 for racial harassment during the past year. The company, which has 84,309 employees and contractors worldwide, recorded 380 sexual harassment reports in fiscal 2026, an 11% decline, while racial harassment reports fell 17% to 86.

Rio Tinto care hub

Rio Tinto recorded 702 incidents reported to its employee care hub in 2025, a 24% increase. The service supports workers dealing with disrespectful or harmful workplace behaviour, including harassment. A 2022 external review commissioned by Rio Tinto and led by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick documented widespread bullying and sexual harassment across its operations, prompting a program of workplace reforms.

Western Australia’s WorkSafe regulator recorded 28 incidents related to sexual assault and harassment during the first six months of this year, compared with 113 for all of last year and a peak of 421 in 2022. WorkSafe attributed the decline to a specialist team established after the state’s inquiry, which increased the regulator’s capacity to respond to sexual harassment complaints.

The falling number of reports suggests conditions may be improving across Western Australian mine sites, but the investigation at Fortescue and the continuing class actions show that workplace conduct remains a significant legal and governance issue for the country’s largest miners. The outcome of the MinterEllison investigation and the progress of the JGA Saddler cases through the courts are the most immediate unresolved threads for the industry’s biggest iron ore producers.

Source: The Northern Miner