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A first-of-its-kind prosecution reinforces HR's responsibility to exercise extreme caution when making workplace decisions involving whistleblowers.

The prosecution, ASIC's first under whistleblowing provisions in the Corporations Act, is against an employer (TerraCom), its managing director, its chief commercial officer, a former chair, and a former director/deputy chair, Clayton Utz partner Amanda Lyras tells HR Daily.

ASIC is alleging they:

• engaged in detrimental conduct towards a whistleblower's reputation, earning capacity, and psychological and emotional state, by allegedly publishing false and misleading statements to the ASX denying their allegations; and
• failed to take reasonable steps, upon receipt of an independent investigator's report, into the issues raised, thereby breaching their duty to exercise reasonable care and skill in the discharge of their duties...