NZ sex worker wins major payout in sexual harassment case

A New Zealand sex worker will receive a six-figure payout after filing a sexual harassment case against a business owner.

The sum is part of a settlement to compensate the woman for "emotional harm and lost earnings", said the human rights body that represented her.

The case served as a reminder that all workers have the right to freedom from sexual harassment at work, it added.

New Zealand passed a law decriminalizing sex work in 2003.

The details of the proceedings, including the identities of those involved, is confidential.

But the settlement announced on Monday was viewed as an important milestone for sex workers' rights.

"It's great to see a settlement of this type has been awarded in the context of sex work to a sex worker," Dame Catherine Healy, national coordinator of the New Zealand Sex Workers Collective, told the BBC.

"It takes courage to stand up in the workplace, any workplace," she added, saying it was a "wake-up call" for businesses.

Healy was at the forefront of a long campaign to decriminalise sex work in New Zealand, arguing that it would make the profession safer.

Her collective helped draft the landmark Prostitution Reform Act. It was passed in 2003, allowing brothels to operate as legitimate businesses and granting sex workers full employment rights.

On Monday Michael Timmins, director of New Zealand's Office of Human Rights Proceedings, which represented the sex worker, said the settlement "serves as an important reminder to businesses across the country"."All workers, regardless of the type of work they do, have the right to freedom from sexual harassment in the workplace. We encourage all business owners and employers to ensure that they understand and respect those rights," he said in a statement. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/

Read More........ → December 15, 2020

Biden’s son Hunter under federal tax investigation

Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden who won the US presidential election, and a frequent target of Republican attacks, said Wednesday he was under federal investigation about his taxes, reports BBC.

The revelation about the probe included no details, but it promises to rekindle Republican rage about the Biden family, including Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the elder Biden’s anti-corruption push in Ukraine when he was US vice president.

I learned yesterday for the first time that the US Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs, Hunter Biden said in a statement released by his father’s presidential transition team.

I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors, he added.

It also presents a series of thorny issues during the president-elect’s transition into the White House in just over one month’s time, including the possibility his son will still be under investigation by the US Department of Justice.Hunter Biden, 50, is a lawyer who has founded consulting and investment firms, worked in private equity and served on the board of various organizations including national railroad corporation Amtrak. Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com

Read More........ → December 10, 2020

800-page report shows how Tarrant eluded detection

New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Tuesday submitted a comprehensive report into last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers were killed.

The nearly 800-page Royal Commission of Inquiry report shows that the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, kept a low profile and told nobody of his plans.

It concludes that despite the shortcomings of various agencies, there were no clear signs the attack was imminent aside from the manifesto Tarrant sent out just eight minutes before he began shooting, which came too late for agencies to respond.

But the report does detail failings in the police system for vetting gun licenses and says that New Zealand’s intelligence agencies were too alert on the threat posed by Islamic extremism at the expense of other threats.

Among 44 recommendations, the report says the government should establish a new national intelligence agency.

In 2019, 51 Muslims were killed in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch by a man named Brenton Tarrant.In August, the 30-year-old Tarrant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 92 counts of terrorism, murder, and attempted murder. https://www.daily-bangladesh.com/

Read More........ → December 08, 2020