A theatrical company has been taken to court for alleged failures in responding to claims by actor Christie Whelan Browne over sexual harassment during the 2014 Rocky Horror Show.
Whelan Browne alleges she was victimised by Oldfield Entertainment, previously known as GFO Entertainment, after making complaints fellow actor Craig McLachlan had sexually harassed her during the musical.
She was engaged as a lead actor, playing the role of Janet Weiss in the Rocky Horror Show‘s 2014 run.
The lawsuit centres around alleged discrimination experienced during the show and in Oldfield’s responses to her complaints from 2017 onwards,.
“I filed this application today with fear and anxiety but also certain in the knowledge that it is something I must do and that I will see it through to the end,” she wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“I know that I deserved better treatment, that I deserved to feel safe and respected in my workplace.
“Other women in the arts deserve better, and I won’t accept that anything less than that is ‘just the way it is’.”
The Federal Court lawsuit has only been filed against the theatrical company behind the show and does not seek relief against McLachlan.
In December 2020, the actor was acquitted of four counts he sexually assaulted four women while he played Frank N Furter in 2014.
The Gold Logie winner has always denied claims of wrongdoing.
Last year, McLachlan cited his mental health when sensationally dropping his defamation case against Whelan Browne, Nine and the ABC over reports alleging sexual abuse.
In evidence given in that case, he was accused of touching, kissing and groping actresses without permission in the Rocky Horror stage production, Neighbours, City Homicide and The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
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