Female workers are suing billionaire Twiggy Forrest’s mining company over claims they were raped, sexually assaulted, and stalked – and managers tried to cover it up.

The details were laid bare in a landmark class action against Fortescue Metals Group lodged by law firm JGA Saddler in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday.

It comes after similar cases filed in 2024 against Rio Tinto and BHP, which included claims of widespread sexual harassment, sexual violence and discrimination.

GA Saddler special counsel Paris Hamrey told media she spoke to thousands of women for those two cases, and Fortescue ‘kept coming up’.

‘The conduct at Fortescue does seem to be as bad, if not worse,’ she said.

Claims against Fortescue include women being warned not to wash their underwear in communal laundry facilities because male colleagues would steal them.

Some women said their male co-workers stalked them ‘like an animal’ while going to the toilet in the bush, and then following them back to their rooms.

One man said to a female colleague: ‘Why don’t you f**k the crew, you will make yourself feel better.’

When sexual advances were rejected, the women were allegedly subject to sexual assault, violence and retaliation.

Those who lodged complaints were allegedly dismissed, demoted, or blacklisted from the mining industry. 

More to come