The Human Rights Review Tribunal found the sex worker was made to feel scared and degraded by sexual and intimidating comments. From October to June the woman, whose name is suppressed, was a sex worker at the Kensington Inn, a Wellington brothel managed by Aaron Montgomery, and owned by his partner, Tara Elizabeth Brockie. The woman said while she was at work, Mr Montgomery made sexual comments about her body, and told her he liked to have sex with the other workers.
Mr Montgomery said weekends were his "play time", when he liked to get stoned and have sex with them in his "special room" at the Kensington. On occasions he told her details about the sex, including that he liked "young, skinny girls".
He said he could do what he liked with the girls, and that "most girls will do anything for me anyway". He was also unhappy about her sharing a rented house with other sex workers, as he didn't want them to socialise outside of work. While driving her home on one occasion, he told her he would "take her out of her comfort zone", which she worried meant he would hurt her or send someone else to hurt her.
The woman said the comments made her feel scared and uncomfortable, and she began to have difficulty sleeping and eating. Her depression worsened and she felt degraded.
In his evidence, Mr Montgomery denied making the sexual comments or raising his voice to her. He said he never had sex with the girls, and that the plaintiff was a disgruntled employee looking for "payback". She said it was extremely difficult for sex workers to complain about harassment, as there was still a culture of secrecy and vulnerability, and workers were often concerned they would be "outed" if they complained. Speaking today Ms Healy said the "very good result'' would "set a milestone'' for the sex industry.
