In an email sent to all staff, Mr Forrest said: “Anyone who thinks this behaviour has a place at Fortescue is in the wrong company.”<\/p>\n
“Losing your job is the beginning of the consequences, not the end,” Mr Forrest said in the email.<\/p>\n
“Where conduct amounts to criminal behaviour, we will support our people and expect the law to take its course.”<\/p>\n
“We first learned the detail of these allegations through the media. They are serious. They are disturbing. They concern behaviour that has no place at Fortescue.”<\/p>\n
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A class action lawsuit was launched this week against Fortescue Metals Group alleging sexual assault and discrimination at the mining giant. (ABC News: Neve Brissenden)<\/p>\n
Mr Forrest said women at FMG must feel they were “safe, respected and backed” by the company.<\/p>\n
“We have worked hard to build a company where women can thrive and lead, and where they are strongly represented across leadership, our operations, and throughout the whole company,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Forrest said women made up 50 per cent of the FMG board and 25 per cent of the company’s entire workforce, including almost 40 per cent of senior leadership.<\/p>\n
Sexual assault\u00a0support lines:<\/p>\n
“But numbers alone are never enough,” he said in the statement.<\/p>\n
“You can recruit great people, but if they don’t feel safe and respected or see a future here, they won’t stay.”<\/p>\n
The class action lawsuit comes two years after BHP and Rio Tinto were taken to federal court over similar allegations.<\/p>\n