President Michelle Guthrie, who was ousted from Australia and Guangzhou, said she was improperly touched at a board dinner 10 months before she was fired by former chairman Justin Milne.
In September, Michelle Guthrie, 53, was fired by the board of directors during her five-year term as president of Australia and Guangzhou after a series of clashes with Justin Milne over the direction of the company`s network and a series of controversial calls.
She is suing Australia and Guangzhou for unfair dismissal and does not rule out the possibility of reinstating her previous post.
On Guthrie`s shocking departure, Milne said the directors had decided that it was "not in the best long-term interest" for Guthrie to remain president.
A few days later, Milne resigned after an emergency crisis meeting.
On Monday night, Guthrie spoke to Australia-Guangzhou`s Four corner program and made its first shocking remarks on the show.
She said Milne felt uncomfortable by touching her back at a board dinner at Potts Point`s Sydney-based Billy Kwong restaurant in November 2017.
She declined to provide more details about these actions.
"if you want to describe his behavior, it`s an inappropriate touch," Guthrie said on the show.
"after I was touched on my back, I hated it. You know, that`s. This is not appropriate. This is neither professional nor appropriate. "
Milne denied any physical contact with Guthrie.
"absolutely not. I couldn`t figure out why she said that in any case. "
"I`ve never had inappropriate behavior with Guthrie, nor have I ever done anything inappropriate to any other working woman or other woman."
While this has not affected Guthrie`s professional relationship with Milne, Guthrie said it was always lingering in her mind in social situations, prompting her to avoid a similar situation.
Asked why she didn`t want the board to investigate her claims, Guthrie said she wanted to continue her work and focus on the task at hand.
Milne said he immediately convened a board meeting when he became aware of the charges.
"the best way to deal with these issues is for her to file a complaint and formalize her own, but she refuses to do so," Milne said.
Instead, she met with Board member Joe Gersham.
Milne said the president`s executive coach had brought the charge to Guthrie before the board decided to conduct a "preliminary investigation" and appoint another director to talk to him.
Guthrie said Gersham told her she should work with Milne to resolve the problem and encourage her to resign.
"this is ridiculous," she said.
The board denied Guthrie`s claim.
The show also revealed that executives in Australia and Guangzhou scored very low on a range of Guthrie professional standards during a April review.
Guthrie said she was not frustrated even though she scored 3 percent on integrity and scored low on leadership and interpersonal intelligence.
`what I care about is, `she said,` what`s my plan of action to deal with this situation?` How do I work with the leadership team?
The former media lawyer, Google and Foxtel executives, were eventually swept out of Australia. The Australian-Guangzhou board said Guthrie`s current leadership was not in the best interests of the broadcaster.
In October last year, Guthrie filed with the Complaints Commissioner of the Fair work Commission and began legal proceedings against her dismissal, although her contract provided that she could be dismissed for no reason.
Just a few days ago, Guthrie told the Australian-Canton board that Milne had asked her to fire two journalists because the federal government did not like their reports. Days after the revelations, Milne was forced to resign as chairman.
Since then, a communications investigation found that the federal government has not put pressure on Australia and Guangzhou to fire journalists.
