Another scandal rocks Nine when a junior team member accuses a colleague of sexually assaulting her after a work Christmas party

A junior employee at Nine Entertainment was allegedly sexually assaulted by a senior male colleague after a work Christmas party.

The explosive allegations come after an independent investigation into the media company’s systemic toxic culture by workplace culture firm Intersection.

The woman and the manager had left the party together and returned to their home in Sydney when the alleged assault took place, The Australian reported.

It is understood the alleged victim did not report the incident to the police or tell her employer at the time, or when she left the company.

Neither she nor the senior manager worked in Nine’s news and current affairs department.

The woman gave details of the alleged incident to the Intersection review and has also spoken with the law firm Ashurst, the publication reported.

The woman also claims she was bullied which led to her leaving the company in 2022. She then received a five-figure payout.

A spokesperson for Nine told the publication that it did not comment on individual cases.

A young Nine Entertainment employee was allegedly sexually assaulted by a senior colleague after a work Christmas party (stock image)

“While it does not refer to any individual, more broadly Nine is committed to investigating all complaints raised by Nine employees through the channels we make available to our people,” a spokesman said.

“We encourage our people to respect the process of any investigation. We strive to provide as much transparency as possible about the processes involved, but we do not and will not comment on individual cases.

“Confidentiality is essential to ensure a fair and just investigation and to strengthen confidence in our systems and processes. Again, generally speaking, it’s important to note that we are alert and actively look for inappropriate behavior in the workplace, and empower our leaders to take action if they observe poor behavior, even if no complaints are made “.

The Intersection report found that Nine had “a systemic problem with the abuse of power and authority; bullying, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment”.

More than 120 current and former employees participated in the review and reported their own experiences of inappropriate workplace behavior at the media and entertainment giant.

Intersection research found that 57% of staff in the media company’s broadcast division had experienced harassment, discrimination or harassment in the past five years, and a third said they had been sexually harassed in the same period of time.

The report said the company’s toxic culture had been triggered by “lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and lack of diversity; and significant distrust of leaders at all levels of the business.”

Staff are understood to have been told that, as the review had been carried out by an external firm, none of the complaints would lead to action being taken against individual perpetrators without a separate internal investigation.

Nine’s board said the report had made 22 recommendations to restore the business culture and it was committed to implementing all of them.

Recommendations included reviewing and updating the company’s code of conduct, investigating an external complaints handling system, establishing a best practice process for recruitment and updating mandatory workplace misconduct training.