The former Melbourne city councillor whose sexual harassment complaint against then mayor Robert Doyle led to an external inquiry and Doyle’s resignation has broken her silence with a series of tweets about her “horrendous experience” and sharp criticism of media coverage of the issue.
Tessa Sullivan resigned as a councillor in December, lodging a detailed complaint that Doyle had persistently made sexual remarks in her presence, hugged and kissed her inappropriately on many occasions, and once grabbed her breast as he got out of his car.
Sullivan, a lawyer, was recruited by Doyle to be on his ticket for the council elections in 2016 but says that, over many months, her workplace became intolerable.
A fellow councillor, the Greens’ Cathy Oke, also made a complaint that Doyle touched her thigh under a table and tried to kiss her.
Another woman, who is not a councillor, anonymously complained about Doyle’s behaviour at a gala Melbourne Health dinner. Doyle was the chairman of Melbourne Health, which runs the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and that alleged incident is subject to a separate inquiry.
The council’s chief executive, Ben Rimmer, ordered Sullivan’s and Oke’s complaints to be investigated by an independent inquiry headed by Dr Ian Freckelton QC. Doyle received the draft report on 30 January to give him an opportunity to respond to its findings.
He resigned days later, saying he was in hospital suffering depression and anxiety and was too ill to respond. He has denied all allegations and his lawyer has said he has not received natural justice since the allegations were first raised.
Five weeks on, there is no word when the report will be released publicly, with media stories suggesting Doyle may seek an injunction to keep it secret.
The delay is frustrating the complainants, who have not been given copies of the report. Their supporters say they have been put under great stress, particularly because of some media reporting of the case, which they say has been unfair and designed to discredit them.
Sullivan has said nothing since she lodged her complaint, in accordance with council advice to let the inquiry takes its course. But she lashed out on Twitter on Sunday night and Monday, attacking in particular several Herald Sun articles she says were inaccurate and sought to “victim blame”.
“Disgusting how you cut & pasted these texts to look like I ‘asked for it’. Victim blaming at its worst,” she tweeted to a Herald Sun reporter and the paper’s editor, Damon Johnston.
It referred to a story in January that included a front-page holiday photograph of Sullivan wearing a bikini, which she had sent to five councillors, including Doyle, asking them how the weather was in Melbourne. The headline was, “Rob, I’m so lucky to have you”, which was an unrelated text sent at another time.
@JMasanauskas @damonheraldsun @theheraldsun Disgusting how you cut & pasted these texts to look like I “asked for it”. Victim blaming at its worst. Happy to show you my phone records to prove some weren’t sent! @TheRealPBarry @ABCmediawatch @VEOHRC @AusPressCouncil @MayneReport https://t.co/AGUJoWKazD
— Tessa Sullivan (@TessaSullivan17) March 4, 2018
The paper published a number of Sullivan’s texts to Doyle and other councillors, including one when she called Doyle “darl” and pressed him to attend a Christmas lunch for councillors that she was organising.
Sullivan was questioned about the texts at the inquiry after the Herald Sun’s story was published. On Monday, she declined to be interviewed by Guardian Australia, but emailed dozens of pages of her phone records covering 14 months, which she gathered for the inquiry to show she was not infatuated with Doyle, as the stories may have implied, but had had normal professional contact with him.
Suggestions Doyle “innocently” kissed me and put his arm around me in a “supportive” manner seek to undermine my serious claims of assault. @JMasanauskas @IanRoyall @theheraldsun @TraceySpicer @perkinsmiki @MayneReport @Mad_Morris https://t.co/1WbBlW8v6P
— Tessa Sullivan (@TessaSullivan17) March 4, 2018
Also in January, the Herald Sun reported “a strange twist to the Town Hall scandal”, namely that Sullivan listed the trading name “Tessa Doyle” a decade ago.
Sullivan tweeted: “My mother’s maiden name is ‘Doyle’. When will you do the decent thing and correct the facts?”
Doyle is a family name going back many generations and Sullivan said she registered “Tessa Doyle” when she was studying performing arts as a potential stage name. She sent Guardian Australia the details of her family genealogy, including that her cousin’s father is named Robert Doyle.
Isn’t honest reporting an important part of a journalists job? @IanRoyall @damonheraldsun @theheraldsun my mother’s maiden name is “Doyle”. When will you do the decent thing and correct the facts? @MayneReport @theage @FinancialReview @myriamrobin @ABCmediawatch @TheRealPBarry https://t.co/OWoNm11fcZ
— Tessa Sullivan (@TessaSullivan17) March 3, 2018
The Herald Sun also reported that Sullivan’s mother had met Doyle at the Toorak Rotary Club in 2006. Sullivan said this was untrue and gathered the club’s records for the inquiry to indicate they had never met there.
Sullivan is considering defamation action against the Herald Sun but has not yet proceeded. Her lawyers have previously written to Johnston, accusing the paper of “a campaign to influence public perception” to benefit Doyle during an ongoing inquiry.
The Australian Local Government Women’s Association has also made formal complaints to the journalists union, the MEAA, and the Press Council about the paper’s coverage, saying the photograph and texts were taken out of context and “the articles will also make it much harder for any other councillor, faced with the same dilemma, to make a formal complaint when she risks being personally discredited and publicly vilified in a widely read newspaper”.
The Herald Sun has denied its reporting was unfair and designed to discredit the complainants against Doyle. In an email to Guardian Australia, Johnston said the paper stood by its coverage, which had been extensive.
“We have broken many stories revealing allegations against Mr Doyle and we have sought to give readers the arguments from all parties, as far as possible, rather than giving just one side, in order to provide readers with a balanced coverage of the scandal,” he said.
“To this end, we have published additional contextual information such as the texts, which we understand were provided as evidence to the investigation.”
He said the paper approached Sullivan’s husband before publishing the story about her registering the name Tessa Doyle, but he indicated that he could not comment, which was reported.
The Victorian minister for women, Natalie Hutchins, tweeted in response to Sullivan that she and others deserved respect for “having the strength to stand up and complain against bad workplace behaviour”.
Respect for Cr’s Oke, Watts and Tessa Sullivan for having the strength to stand up and complain against bad workplace behaviour #RespectWomen 1/2
— Natalie Hutchins (@NatHutchins) February 8, 2018
Sullivan replied that it had been “a horrendous experience, your support means so much to me, here’s hoping for change”.
